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I. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 

VOLUME XXXIII "3 



CONTAINING LIFE SKETCHES OF LEADING CITIZENS OF 

SCHENECTADY, SCHOHARIE 
AND GREENE COUNTIES 

NEW YORK 



Who among men art thou, and thy years how many, good friend ? — XenuI'HANES 



BOSTON 

Biographical Review Publishing Company 

1899 






ATLANTIC STATES SERIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS. 



The volumes issued in this series up to date are the following : — 



I. Otsego Countv, New York. 
II. Madison County, New York. 

III. ISkoome County, New York. 

IV. CoLU.Miii.\ CouNiv, Nkw York. 
V. C".AYUG,\ County, New York. 

VI. Delaware County, New York. 
VII. Livingston and Wyoming Coi'nites, 

New York. 
Vlll. Clinton and Essex Couniies, New 
York. 
IX. Hami'den County, Massachusetts. 
X. Franklin County, Massachusetts. 
XI. Hampshire County, Ma.ssachuseits. 
XII. Lnciii'TELD County, Connecticut. 

XIII. York County, Maine. 

XIV. Cumberland County, Maine. 

XV. Oxford and Franklin Counties, 

Maine. 
XVI. Cumberland County, New Jersey. 
XVII. Rockingham County, New Hampshire. 
XVIII. Plymouth County, Massachusetts. 
XIX. Camden and Burlington Counties, 
New Jersey. 



XX. Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and 
Waldo Counties, Maine. 
XXI. Strafford and Belknap Counties, 

New Hampshire. 
XXII. Sullivan and Merrimai.k ("ounties, 
New Hampshire. 
XXI II. Hillsboro and Cheshire Counties, 

New Hampshire. 
XXIV. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
XXV. Norfolk County, Ma.ssachuseits. 
XXVI. New London County, Connecticut. 
X.WII. MiiiDLEsEX County, Massachusetts. 
.XXVIII. Essex County, Massachusetts. 
XXIX. Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, 
Washington, and Aroostook 
Counties, Maine. 
XXX. Worcester County, Massachusetts. 
XXXI. Berkshire County, Massachusetts. 
XXXII. Somerset and Bedford Counties, 
Pe.nnsylvania. 

X.X.XIIl. Sciienectady,Schoharie AND Greene 
Counties, New York. 



Note. — All the biographical sketches published in this volume were submitted to their respective subjects or to the sub- 
scribers, from whom the facts were primarily obtained, for their approval or correction before going to press, and a reasonable 
time was allowed in each case for the return of the typewritten copies. Most of them were returned to us within the time allotted, 
or before the work was printed, after being corrected or revised ; and these may therefore be regarded as reasonably accurate. 

A few, however, were not returned to us ; and, as we have no means of knowing whether they contain errors or not, we 
cannot vouch for their accuracy. In justice to our readers, and to render this work more valuable for referenae purposes, we have 
indicated all uncorrected sketches by a small asterisk (*), placed immediately after the name of the subject. They will be found 
printed on the last pages of the book. 

5-1^ 5 ts l; j^ j.^iH. CO. 

. ^5. 



J. 






[i 



PREFACE. 



"0 



NE generation passeth away, and another generation cometh "—an ancient 
writer thus summarizes the unending story of the life of man on the earth. 
Multitudes who came and went long, long ago left but scanty memorials of themselves 
and of their work, and these exceedingly hard to get at, necessitating in our day on 
the part of the heir of all the ages a new profession, requiring detective ardor and 
I: skill — that of the archreologist. With the advance of the art of living has kept 

pace both the study of the past and the writing of contemporary records, the present 
generation being especially mindful of its obligations in this respect to posterity. 

For one hundred and twenty-three years has the American republic kept with 
open door the best and best-attended training school in the world for the develop- 
ment of individuals, the result being an unrivalled body of intelligent, loyal, serviceable 
citizens, builders and, if need be, defenders of their country. 

The Biographical Review, of which the present issue, devoted to Schenectady, 
Schoharie, and Greene Counties, New York, is the thirty-third in our Atlantic Series, 
has for its object to preserve the life stories, with ancestral notes, of numerous repre- 
sentatives of the American people of to-day, well known in their respective localities 

men and women of action and of integrity, helpers in the world's work — to the end 
that future generations may keep their memory green, may emulate their virtues, 
profit by their experience, and haply, with increased advantages of learning and 
resources, better their example. 

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

October, 1899. 




AUSTIN A. VATES. 



BIOSRAPHIGAL. 




ON.' AUSTIN ANDREW 
YATES, one of the lead- 
ing attorneys of Schenectady, 
served with the rank of Cap- 
tain in the Civil War, and as 
Major of the Second Battalion, 
New York Infantry, was on 
duty with his command in va- 
rious camps during- the Spanish War, biit is 
better known by the title of Judge, having 
been elected to that office in 1873. 

He was born in Schenectady on March 
24, 1836, son of the Rev. John Austin and 
Henrietta Maria (Cobb) Yates. The original 
ancestor in America was Joseph Yates, an Eng- 
lishman, who emigrated in 1664 and settled 
in Albany. Christopher Yates, son of Joseph, 
and the next in this line, had a son Joseph, 
who was born in Albany, and settled in Glen- 
ville, N.Y. , where he carried on a large plan- 
tation bordering upon the river, and owned a 
number of slaves. 

Christopher Yates, second, son of Joseph, 
second, and great-grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, was one of the well-to-do residents 
of Schenectady in his day. While serving as 
a Lieutenant in the Provincial army, he was 
wounded at the siege of Ticonderoga in the 



French War. He served as a Captain under 
Sir William Johnson in the engagement at 
Fort Niagara, and received from King George 
III. a land grant of nine thousand acres. His 
term of service as member of the first Provin- 
cial Congress expired just six days prior to the 
signing of the Declaration of Independence. 
Entering the Continental army as a C(jloneI, 
he served as Assistant Department Quarter- 
master under General Philip Schuyler, and 
participated in the battle of Saratoga. He 
reared five sons, each of whom performed some 
notable achievement. Joseph C. Yates, the 
eldest son, was one of the founders of Union 
College and Governor of New York, 1823-25; 
John B. served as Colonel of a cavalry regi- 
ment in the War of 181 2, was member of Con- 
gress from Madison County, and built the 
Welland Canal ; Henry was a State Senator 
from Albany; Christopher was the founder of 
St. George's Lodge, F. & A. M., Schenec- 
tady; and Andrew, Judge Yates's grandfather, 
known as the Rev. Andrew Yates, D. D., was 
one of the first professors at Union College. 

Dr. Yates was a man of superior intellectual 
endowments, and was well versed in ancient 
and modern languages, including Holland 
Dutch. His professorship at L^ninn College 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



was productive of much benefit to that institu- 
tion wliile in its infancy. His whole life was 
one of useful activity. Laboring diligently to 
increase the facilities for religious worship, lie 
built thirteen churches, mostly missions of the 
Reformed denomination, all of which are still 
standing antl are in a flourishing condition. 
He inherited considerable wealth from his 
father's estate. l-'or his first wife he married 
Mary Austin, who was of Knglish Puritan 
stock, and was a relative of the founder of 
Austin, Te.\'. Of this union there were two 
sons — John Austin and Andrew i\ His sec- 
ond wife, who was formerly a Miss Hooker, of 
Hartford, Conn., became the mother of three 
children — ^ Mary Austin, James, and Anna E. 
Andrew Yates also reared John Uominis, who 
became the consort of the Queen of the Sand- 
wiih Islands. Dr. Yates died in 1844, and 
his widow survived him some ten years. 

The Rev. John Austin Yates, his eldest son, 
was born within the precincts of Union Col- 
lege, Schenectady, in 1801. After graduating 
from that institution he spent some time in 
Europe studying the modern languages, and 
spoke French and German fluently. He was 
afterward a tutor at Union College for some 
years, or imtil called to the pastorate of a Re- 
formed church in Jersey City. As a jjulpit 
orator he acquired a wide reputation. The 
memorable cholera epidemic of 1S49 numbered 
him among its many victims; and his death, 
which occurred in Schenectady on August 26 
of that year, when he was but forty-eight years 
old, was sincerely lamenteil in other localities 
as well as the vicinity (jf Union College. 



In 1829 he married Henrietta Maria Cobb, 
an adopted daughter (jf his uncle. Colonel 
John B. Yates. He was the father of five 
children, namely: Henrietta Cobb, who died 
in infancy; Mary Austin, who married John 
Watkins, and died in Columbia, S. C. , in 
1853, leaving a family, of whom John D. 
and Grace .S. Watkins are now living; John 
B. , second, who served as Colonel of the 
First Michigan Engineers under General 
Sherman tluring the Civil War, was later a 
division engineer on the Erie Canal, and is 
now in the government service at Grosse Point, 
Mich. ; Austin A., the subject of this sketch; 
and the late Captain Arthur Reed Yates, 
United States Navy. Captain Yates was 
graduated from the Naval Academy, Annapo- 
lis, in 1857, and was thus senior to Schley and 
Sampson. He was for .some time a naval at- 
tache in Japan. He served upon Admiral 
Farragut's staff during the Civil War, and re- 
ceived that officer's hearty commendation in 
recognition of his gallant conduct at fhe battle 
of Mobile liay. He dietl at Portsmouth, 
N. H., November 4, 1892, on the eve of ]Dro- 
motion to the rank of Commodore. The 
mother died in Alarch, 1842, aged thirty-one. 

Austin Andrew Yates's birth took jilace 
while his father was an instructor at Union 
College, and he was the second representative 
of the famil}' Ijorn within its limits. He at- 
tended the public schools until entering the 
Schenectady Lyceum for his preparatory 
course, which was completed when he was but 
thirteen years old; and in Sejitember, 1849, he 
began his classical studies at Union. Leav- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ing college in 1850, he spent two years in 
Western Massachusetts, where he continued 
his studies under the tutorship of David M. 
Kimball, and, passing a successful examina- 
tion for the Junior class, he completed the 
course antl was graduated from Union College 
in 1854. He read law in the ofifice of the late 
Judge Potter, and was admitted to the bar in 
1857, when twenty-one years old. During the 
first few years of his practice he devoted a part 
of his time to newspaper work, first as editor 
of the Schenectady Daily Times and later of 
the Evening Star. 

Enlisting in Company H, One Hundred and 
Thirty-fourth Regiment, New York Volun- 
teers, during the Civil War, he was promoted 
from the rank of Lieutenant to that of Cap- 
tain. He was in the reserve force during the 
battle of Fredericksburg, and at Chancellors- 
ville he received such severe injury to his eyes 
as to necessitate his discharge for disability. 
Re-enlisting as Captain of Company F, 
Fourteenth Regiment, United States Veteran 
Reserve Corps, he participated in some en- 
gagements near Washington, and on the occa- 
sion of a sudden attack made by the enemy 
under General Jubal A. Early, he assisted Pres- 
ident Lincoln, who happened to be present, 
from the field. In November, 1863, he was 
sent with three companies to supi)ress a riot 
among the miners in Carbon County, Pennsyl- 
vania. Among the various official duties of 
his command after the close of hostilities was 
that of the execution of Mrs. Surratt and the 
other conspirators, which is one of the most 
unpleasant recollections of his military ser- 



vice. He was brevetted Major in 1865, and 
appointed Judge Advocate under Joseph Holt, 
Judge Advocate General, and after his dis- 
charge from the army in 1866 he resumed his 
law practice in Schenectady. 

Politically, Judge Yates is a Republican. 
In 1867 he was unsuccessful as a candidate for 
the Assembly, owing to a factional discord in 
the party. He was elected District Attorney 
in 1868, re-elected in 1871, and in 1873 was 
elected Judge by a large majority. He was a 
candidate for the State Senate in 1885, but 
lacked ten votes of being elected. In 1887 he 
was successful in his candidacy for the Assem- 
bly, and was re-elected in 1S88. Upon the 
expiration of his term as Judge he once more 
returned to bis practice, and is now conducting 
a profitable general law business. 

On December 18, 1865, Judge Yates was 
joined in marriage with Josephine de Vendell, 
daughter of John I. Yates. They have one 
daughter, Henrietta C. 

In September, 1880, Judge Yates was com- 
missioned Captain of the Thirty-sixth Separate 
Company, National Guard, State of New York, 
and later he was commander of the Fifteenth 
Eattalion. In May, 1898, as Major of the 
Second Battalion, New York Infantry, he led 
his command to the field in the Spanish War, 
and served in camps on this side of the water 
at Hempstead, Lytic, Chickamauga, Tampa, 
Fernandina, and Camp Harden. He retired 
in October, having served through all the 
camps and service which have been the cause 
of such caustic criticism ; and, thou"h his regi- 
ment lost thirty-one by death, he brought 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



lidme every one of liis four huiulied ami thirty- 
six men al i\e. 

Judge Yates was president of the National 
Guard's Association in 1S90, and for a number 
of years Commander of the local post of the 
Grand Army of the Republic. He is a Master 
Mason, as were many of his ancestors, includ- 
ing his father, grandfather, and great-grand- 
father. 




NDRi:W J. (iUFFIN, M.D., a suc- 



cessful jihysician of Carlisle, was born 
in Grcenbush, Rensselaer County, 
N.Y., June 6, 1846, son of John and Hannah 
(Dings) Guffin. The Guffin family is of 
Scotch-Irish antecedents, and was founded in 
America b}' the Doctor's grandfather, Andrew 
Gufifin, who was born in Newry, County Di)wn, 
Ireland, in 1756. 

Andicw Guffin emigrated to America when 
a young man, settling first in Dutchess 
County, New York. Later he moved to Scho- 
dack, near Nassau, Rensselaer County, where 
he resided luitil his death, whicli occurred in 
1842. He was e.\lensivel\' engaged in farm- 
ing, hi ])olitics he was a Whig, and his 
religious affiliations were with the Dutch Re- 
formed church. In 1 78 1 he married Hannah 
Ostrom, who was born in Dutchess County, 
New York, of German ancestry. .She died in 
1835, '^^ the age of seventy-three. They were 
the parents of fourteen chiltlren ; namely, ICliz- 
abeth, Rebecca, Andrew (i., .Sarah, James, 
John, Thomas, George, I\huy, Josiah, Henr\-, 
Hannah, Elijah, and Jonas. Elijah became a 



teacher in an asylum for deaf-mutes. All the 
other sons were farmers. 

John Guffin, the Doctor's father, followed 
agriculture in Albany and Rensselaer Counties 
successively until the last fifteen years of his 
life, which he spent in retirement as a resident 
of the city of All)any- He was very success- 
ful financialh', owning a number of farms and 
other real estate. In politics he was a Repub- 
lican and in his religious belief Presbyterian. 
He died in 1879, aged eighty years. His 
wife li\ed to the age of about eighty-two. 
She was the mother of four children, namely: 
Emma, who is no longer living; Andrew [., 
the subject of this sketch; Charles W. , a clerk 
in the American Express Office in New York 
City; and John C. , who was formerly secretary 
of the American Sewing Machine Company of 
New York. 

Andrew J. Guffin, having conii)leted his gen- 
eral education at the Albany Classical Insti- 
tute, enlisted for service in the Civil War; and 
subsequent to his discharge he began the study 
of medicine under the direction of Dr. J. R. 
Iniulware, a leading physician of Alban\'. He 
then took the regular course at the Albany Med- 
ical College, where he was graduatetl in 1868. 
After a year's experience as jjhysician at the 
almshouse, he settled for practice in Nassau, 
N.Y. , whence he went to Canaan Four Cor- 
ners, and still later to New Canaan, Conn., 
from which place he lemoved to Clifton Lark, 
Saratoga Count}-, N.Y. In 1897 lie came 
to Carlisle, where he has already built up a 
good practice. 

Dr. Guffin is a member of the Schoharie 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'3 



County Medical Society. Politically, he is a 
Republican, and is now serving as Health 
Officer. A member of the Presbyterian 
church, he was formerly president of the local 
branch of Christian Endeavor Societ}', and is 
now its treasurer. 

Dr. Guffin married October 21, iS6g, Vira 
Phillips, of Nassau, Rensselaer County, 
N.Y. , daughter of John and Mary Phillips. 
Of this union was born one child, a son, John 
C. Mrs. Guffin departed this life in i8go. 
John C. Guffin was graduated from the Cobles- 
kill High School, and is now book-keeper at 
William V. Downer's Life Insiu'ance Agency. 




l^jKNWICK DIBPELL, general mer- 
chant, Tannersville, Greene Count)*, 
was born at Piatt Clove, in this 
town, July 5, 1861. His parents were Har- 
mon B. and PJeborah M. (Hummel 1) Dibbell, 
his father a native of Colchester, Delaware 
County, and his mother a native of Piatt Clove, 
His grandfather, Amos Dibbell, who was a 
native of Holland, settled in Delaware County, 
New York, as a pioneer, and resided there 
until 1834, when he went to Piatt Clove. He 
was a millwright by trade, following that occu- 
pation, a number of years, and his death oc- 
curred at the age of eighty-four. His wife, 
formerly Charlotte Williams, of Colchester, 
died at eigbty-nine )'ears of age. They had 
a family of ten children. 

Harmon B. L^ii)bell learned the trade of 
a millwright, which he followed at Piatt 
Clove for a time, later moving to Kingston, 



where he engaged in manufacturing. After- 
ward he went to Elka Park, erecting there a 
mill, which he conducted for the rest of his life. 
In 1863 he raised Company E of the Fifteenth 
Regiment, New York Volunteers, engineer 
corps, and this company he commanded imtil 
mustered out at the close of the war. He was 
a Democrat in politics, acted as a Justice of 
the Peace for some time, and was a prominent 
man in the community. He died at the age of 
seventy-one. His wife, Deborah, was a daugh- 
ter of Jeremiah Hummell. Her father was a 
farmer and an early settler of Piatt Clove, 
where he resideil until his death, which oc- 
curred when he was ninety years old. Har- 
mon B. and Deborah M. Dibbell were the 
parents of six children, three of whom arc liv- 
ing — Egbert, Renwick, and George W. Dib- 
bell. Egbert is now residing in South Dakota. 
The mother still survives, and resides with her 
son in Tannersville. 

Renwick Dibbell came to Elka Park with his 
parents when six years of age. He attended 
the common schools, and assisted his father in 
the lumber business until his father's death. 
Forming a partnership with a<i Mr. Goslen, he 
entered the contracting and building business 
at I'^lka Park, erecting a number of cottages 
there, also the Poggenberg Hotel, the Scho- 
harie Mansion, and the Catherine Tower. 
This structure is built of stone and is fifty feet 
high. It is fourteen feet at the base, and has 
stone steps on the inside leading to the top. 
In 1888 Mr. Dibbell took up the profession of 
a civil engineer, and did considerable survey- 
ing in different parks, also laying out roads 



14 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and running farm lines. In 1895 the firm 
purchased the store of C. F. Gray, one of the 
largest mercantile establishments in town, in 
which they carried a full stock of groceries, 
boots, shoes, notions, and other merchandise. 
This store was conducted in connection with 
their contracting business until October 14, 
1898, when the partnership was dissolved. 
Since that time Mr. Dibbell has carried it on 
alone. Mr. Dibbell has resided here since his 
early boyhood, and takes an active interest in 
local public affairs. Through his efforts a 
jiost-office was established at Elka Park, and 
he has been Postmaster there for the jiast five 
years. He also succeeded in causing the ex- 
tension of the telegraph and tele])hone lines to 
Elka Park and Schoharie Mansion, he being 
the owner of the telephone line. He has 
control of the switch office for the Catskill 
Mountain Telephone Company, and is local 
agent of the Western Union Telegraph Com- 
pany. Having a long distance telephone, they 
can converse with New York, Boston, and 
other cities. At the present time he devotes 
his entire attention to his mercantile enter- 
])rise, the telegrai^h and telephone agencies, 
employing five assistants. 

On October 17, 1883, Mr. Dibbell was 
joined in marriage with Miss Alice Bishop, of 
Hunter, daughter of Asa and Ann (Brown) 
]?ishop. Her father spent most of his life as a 
farmer in Ulster County. He died in West 
Saugcrties. Mr. and Mrs. Dibbell liave four 
children— P'lavius, Estella, Agnes, and Kl- 
mira. 

Mr. Dibi)ell is a Democrat in jiolitics. He 



has served on town, county, and State commit- 
tees, has been a delegate to a number of 
comity ant! State conventions, and was Ta.\ 
Collector two terms. He is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias, in which he has held a 
number of the offices, and belongs to the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He and Mrs. 
Dibbell are members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. 



(5 1 HOMAS R. POTTER, a prosperous 
q )\ farmer of Glen\ille, .Schenectady 
County, N. Y. , was born in this town, Decem- 
ber 2, 1837, son of Johnson and Susan M. 
(Romeyn) Potter. His parents were born in 
.Saratoga County, the father in Galway, June 
25, 1803, and the mother in Clifton Park, 
July I, 1807. The paternal grandfather was 
Simeon Potter, who came to Glenville about 
tiie year 1S09, and settled upim a farm in tiie 
north-west part of the township, where he re- 
sided for the rest of his life. His funeral 
w-as the first one held in the Glenville Re- 
formed church. The maiden name of his wife 
was Phcebe A. Beach. 

Johnson Potter, the father, came with his 
parents to Glenville when si.x )-ears old, and 
was reared to agricultural pursuits. He became 
one of the stirring men of his day, and owned 
a farm of one hundred and forty- eight acres, 
which is now occupied by his son, .Spencer .S. 
Potter. He served as a Trustee of the town 
and as Commissioner of Highways. In ]ioli- 
tics he supported the Democratic party. John- 
son and .Susan M. Potter were the parents of 




G. i\. FKISBIE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



17 



seven children, all of whom grew to maturity, 
and four are living, namely: Jedcdiah D., a 
resident of Chicago; Thomas R., the subject 
of this sketch; Spencer S. , who resides at the 
homestead, as above mentioned; and J. Antoi- 
nette, wife of William H. Hollinbeck, of 
Hoffman's Ferry. The others were: Phcebe 
Ann, Harriet N., and Fannie E. The father 
died July 5, 1891, surviving the mother, who 
died January 20, 1885. 

Thomas R. Potter acquired a district-school 
education. Like his ancestors he has followed 
agriculture with success, for many years culti- 
vating a farm of one hundred and twenty-six 
acres. 

Mr. Potter contracted the first of his two 
marriages January 6, 1S61, with Jane Ann Van 
Wormer, who died Jime 9, 1893, leaving two 
children — Frank and Eliza J. Frank, who is 
in the insurance business, married Nellie 1". 
Bennett, of Lansingburg, Rensselaer Count}', 
and has four children — Lelia B., Jennie E., 
Thomas R., and Henry ]?. Eliza J. is the 
wife of Elmer W. Kelderhouse, of Hoffmans, 
and has one daughter, Hazel L. On January 
26, 1898, Mr. Potter married for his second 
wife Mrs. Effie C. Van Wormer, daughter of 
Abram S. and Bernetta M. (Dunham) Eode- 
wick and widow of Oscar V^an Wormer. Her 
father was a native of Schodack, Rensselaer 
County, and her mother of Lexington, N.Y. 
Mrs. Potter had four children by her first 
marriage, namely: Nancy B., Bessie R. , and 
l?lanche L. Van Wormer, who are living; and 
Jennie Inez, deceased. 

Politically, Mr. Potter is a Democrat, and 



served with ability as Supervisor five years. 
He belongs io Touareuna Lodge, No. 35, 
I. O. O. F. , and he and Mrs. Potter are mem- 
bers of Gold Medal Lodge, No. 554, Patrons 
of Industry. 



/^TrANDISON N. FRISHIE, of Mid- 
V|^J_ dleburg, N.Y., president of the 
Middleburg & Schoharie Railroad and an ex- 
tensive dealer in real estate, is a native of 
Roxbury, Delaware County, this State, born 
on May 24, 1831, son of William and Marilia 
(Norton) Frisbie. He received a common- 
school education, and at seventeen years of 
age was apprenticed to learn the harness- 
maker's trade of his brother at J''ultunham. 
Three years later he became equal partner. 
Subsequently he bought out the business and 
conducted it alone for some time. In 1854 he 
began the manufacture of harnesses in Middle- 
burg, and, being . the only person engaged 
here in that line of industry, met with great 
success, and did a most profitable business. 
In 1S67 he purchased a half-interest in the 
general store of Charles Earles ; and some 
years later he bought a half-interest in the 
firm of W. G. Lounsbury & Co., in the hard- 
ware trade. Subsequently his two sons, 
Daniel D. ami George D., were taken into 
partnership; and in time the entire manage- 
ment of the business passed into their hands, 
Mr. Frisbie himself giving his attention to 
real estate and insurance, which have since 
been his princi])al lines of activity. He has 
managed large real estate transactions, and has 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



built a !uimber of fine iioiiscs. liis present 
residence, which is one of the finest in town, 
is one which he has remodelled. 

Since March 25, 1878, Mr. I'risbie has been 
]ircsident and general manager of the Middle- 
bnrg & Schoharie Railroad, nuich of whose 
success is due to him. This roail, which was 
constructeil under the authority of a legislati\e 
enactment of May 8, 1867, is six miles in 
length, and connects Middleburg and Scho- 
harie villages. The road and trains are con- 
tinued five miles farther north to a junction 
with the Delaware & Mutlson, but the Scho- 
harie valley roail has greatl)' handicapped the 
Middleburg Compan\-, since the latter de- 
pends uijon the northern stretch as an outlet. 
At one time it w^ould have been possible to 
purchase the Schoharie road, and Mr. Frisbie 
strenuousl)' urged that this might be done, 
offering to make a subscri])tion of five thousand 
dollars for the [lurjiosc. Since then it has 
been impossible to buy it. It may be inter- 
esting to review here in brief the history of 
the inception and growth of the Middleburg 
branch. When the Delaware & Hudson had 
been built as far as Oneonta, and the people of 
Schoharie had determined to connect with it 
there, a few prominent men of this town met 
at a hotel, and, after carefully considering the 
matter, decided that the)' would also make a 
junction at Schoharie by raisirig one hundred 
tlmusand dnllars, half of which wouUl be sub- 
scribed by the town and the other half b)' pri- 
vate individuals. As a matter of fact, the 
total capitalization, full)- [laid in, was but 
ninety-two thousand dcdlars. The tcjwn was 



bonded but comparatively little to raise the 
lull amount of its subscrijit ion. The bonds of 
the comjiany, which were placed at par (sc\'en 
per cent, interest), were retired in 1893, prin- 
cipal and interest, by James Borst, railroad 
commissioner. The individual subscribers to 
the stock numbered abt)ut seventy-five, and in- 
cluded many small h(dders in and about ^lid- 
dleburg, about seventeen thousand dollars 
being in Albany holdings and the balance in 
New York. No indebtedness was incurred 
in the construction and equipment of the road, 
as one of the first resolutions passetl by the di- 
rectors had been that work was to stop as soon 
as ftmds were wanting. The road is now in 
paying condition, and shows clearly that it has 
been most efficiently managed. Mr. Frisbie 
is one of the first and largest local subscribers 
to the stock of the First National 15ank, and 
from the time of its organi2ation has been its 
\icepresident. 

In 1858 Mr. Frisbie was united in marriage 
with Kate Dodge, daughter of Daniel D. 
Dodge, late of this town. Mr. Dodge was a 
prominent merchant antl for one year member 
of tlie State Assembly. Mrs. Frisbie departed 
this life in June, 1898. She was the mother 
of four children, namely; Daniel D. and 
George D., the sons above mentioned; and 
two daughters, Laura and lunma. Laura is 
now the wife of Dow Heekman, whose biog- 
raph\' may be tound on another ]iage of the 
Re\iI'.w. All these children are graduates of 
Ilartwick Seminary in Otsego Count)', an in- 
stitution of which Mr. Frisbie has for many 
years been treasurer anil trustee. Mr. Frisbie 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'9 



and his family are members of the Lutheran 
church, and Mr. Frisl)ie is an Elder in the 
church. He was for several years superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school. 



fp)TENRY T. BOTSFORD, a leading 
farmer of Greenville, Greene County, 
N. Y., was born in this town on De- 
cember 18, 1845, son of Dr. Gideon and Maria 
L. (Tallmadge) Botsford. Dr. Botsford's 
grandfather, Gideon Botsford, Sr. , resided in 
Newtown, Conn. He was possessed of liberal 
means, had large influence in his community, 
and represented his town in the councils of his 
State. Amos, one of his thirteen children 
and the grandfather of Henry T. Botsford, 
was born in Newtown on F"cbruary 13, 1780. 

Having obtained an academic education, 
Amos Botsford entered upon the study of 
medicine at the age of eighteen years, received 
his diploma at twenty-one years, and im- 
mediately afterward came to the new town of 
Greenville and settled for the practice of his 
profession. Dr. Amos Botsford was married 
on September 20, 1801, to Elizabeth Clark, 
daughter of Joseph Clark, of Connecticut; and 
his house-keeping began in what has since been 
known as the Ell. Knowles place. A few 
years after he purchased a lot and built the 
house in which Pierce Stevens now resides. 
Later he jmrchased of Jonathan Sherrill the 
lot and dwelling now occupied by his son-in- 
law, Dr. B. S. McCabe, and there resided 
until his death. 

" For many years Dr. Amos Botsford was 



the only physician of standing or professional 
ability in this section of the country, conse- 
quently his services were much sought and his 
labors were arduous. His custom when visit- 
ing his patients was to ride on horseback. 
Few men possessed a finer physique than the 
Doctor. Of dignified appearance, he com- 
manded the respect of all, even at first sight. 
He was a faithful, intelligent, and successful 
practitioner for over fifty years. He repre- 
sented his town in the Board of Supervisors in 
the years 1826, 1827, 1831, 1834, and 1849. 
He was one of the incorporators of Greenville 
Academy. He was a faithful member of the 
Presbyterian church in Greenville, and for 
many years an acting Elder in it. He died 
on August 16, 1864. His wife died Decem- 
ber 3, 1855. 

" There were born to them two sons and two 
daughters. Eliza, the eldest, born June 5, 
1807, was married to Charles Callender, and 
died April 4, 1871, leaving three children — 
John, Charles, and David. Of these John is 
engaged in the manufacture of brick in l^oston. 
Charles (deceased) was a manufacturer of paint 
in Newark, N.J. David is now deceased. 
Clark Botsford, the second child of Dr. Amos, 
was born September 15, 1808. He was grad- 
uated from Union College at the age of nine- 
teen. He then studied law, and subsequently 
practised his pjrofession in the western part of 
the State. Mary L., the youngest child, mar- 
ried Dr. B. S. McCabe, and has continued to 
reside in the house where she was born and in 
which her parents died." 

Gideon Botsford, third child of Dr. Amos, 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIFAV 



and father of Henry T. Botsford, was born on 
June 5, 181 I. He obtainctl a .n'ood education 
at (ircenville Academy, and subsequently, in 
1832, was graduated from the Fairfield Medical 
College. He began the practice of medicine 
with his father, and for fifty years continued to 
devote his entire energies to the work of the 
profession he so much loved. Like his father 
he was a man of commanding appearance and 
agreeable address, and like him he won and 
enjoyed the respect and confidence of the com- 
nnuiity. Kver active, and ha\ing in view the 
improvement of his native \'illage, he never 
lost an opportunity to promote the iiublic wel- 
fare. He was for many years an Elder of the 
Presbyterian church, of which from early life he 
was a faithful member. He served as a promi- 
nent member of the Board of Trustees of Green- 
ville Academy. The Doctor's wife, Maria 
L. , was the daughter of Dr. Henry Talimadge, 
and a sister of Mrs. John G. Hart. (See 
sketch of John G. Hart.) Of the four chil- 
dren born to her, two are living — Henry T. 
and Anna M. Dr. l^otsford was a Democrat 
in politics, and ser\'ed the town as Supervisor 
for two terms. 

Henry T. Botsford resided with his father 
u]) to the time of the lattcr's death. In 1878 
he purchased of Robert Hawley a farm that he 
owned for ele\en years, antl in 1890 he bought 
the farm which is now his home. His house, 
which is the finest in the village, was begun 
in 1 89 1 and completed in 1892. Mr. Botsford 
is one of the largest land-owners in the town. 
He now carries on the homestead farm of 
twenty acres o])posite his own, the Gideon 



Hickock farm of one hundi"etl acres, and the 
George Conklin farm of two hundred and 
twenty acres. He is a man of wide reading, 
and especially well informed on topics of pub- 
lic interest. 

Mr. Botsford married in 1882 Mary, daugh- 
ter of Thomas and luiiily Robbins, and a 
native of Greenville. Her father was a car- 
penter by trade, and he also carried on a farm. 
He died at the age of seventy-one, having 
been twice married. His wife, ICmily, wdio 
was born in Greenxille, died in i8gi. Of her 
two children Mrs. Botsford is the only one 
living. Mr. and Mrs. ]?otsford have one 
child, Frances Helena by name. In politics 
Mr. Botsford is a Democrat. He has dealt to 
cpiite an e.xtent in real estate. He and his 
wife are members of the Presbyterian church, 
anil he has been one of its trustees for many 
years. 

ARMON BECKl'.R, who.sc death oc- 
curred January 18, 1897, at the home- 
stead in Cobleskill, N. V. , now 
occupied by Mrs. ]-5eckcr antl her daughters, 
was during his long life an esteemed citizen of 
this town and one of its successful farmers. 
He was born June 19, 18 13, at Duancsburg, 
Schenectady Count)', antl was a son of Nicho- 
las Becker. He came from jiatriotic stock, 
both his jiaternal graiullathcr, Ca]itain Jf)hn 
]5ecker, antl his maternal grandfather, John 
Ferguson, ha\ing fought as brave .soldiers in 
the Revolutionary War, the former command- 
ing a company of minute-men. 

Nichtjlas Becker li\ctl in Duanesburg some 




BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



years after his marriage to Jean Ferguson of 
Edinburgh, Scotland; but in 1823 he came 
with his family to Cobleskill, and, taking up 
a tract of forest -covered land, began the 
laborious task of clearing a farm and establish- 
ing a home. 

Harmon Becker was a lad of ten years when 
he came here with his parents. He assisted in 
the pioneer labor of reclaiming a farm from the 
forest, and, having subsequently succeeded to 
its ownership, was here industriously and pros- 
perously engaged iii general farming and saw- 
milling to the close of his life of eighty-three 
years. He was a stanch Democrat in his po- 
litical affiliations for the greater part of his 
life, and served as Supervisor two terms and as 
School Inspector a number of years. In his 
last years he voted with the Prohibition [larty, 
believing strongly in the equal suffrage plank 
of its platform. A valued member of the Lu- 
theran church, he held nearly all the offices 
connected with that organization, and for 
thirty-si.x consecutive years was superintendent 
of its Sunday-school. 

On January 17, 1849, ^^- Becker married 
Miss Julia A. Myer, who was born in Barner- 
ville, N. Y, Her father, Stephen Myer, was 
of Dutch extraction. The emigrant ancestor of 
the Myer family came to America from Hol- 
land in old Colonal times, and was one of the 
original settlers of Ulster Count}', in this 
State. Mrs. Becker's paternal grandfather, 
Peter L. Myer, was born and brought up in 
Saugertics, Ulster County. Removing thence 
to Schcjharie County, he devoted his energies to 
tilling the soil. His death occurred at the 



venerable age of ninety-one years. He, too, 
served with honor in the Revolutionary War. 
Stephen Myer continued during his life in 
the occupation to which he was trained, and in 
addition to general farming carried on a sub- 
stantial business as a miller, owning and op- 
erating both a saw-mill and a grist-mill. He 
lived to be eighty-one years of age. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Elizabeth Mowers, 
was born in Ulster County, a daughter of Jacob 
Mowers. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Myer had 
four children, two of whom are still living, 
namely: Mrs. Becker; and her sister, Sally 
C. , who is the wife of Charles Ryder. Mrs. 
Myer died at the age of eighty-one years. 
Both she and her husband were active mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church, in which he filled 
all the offices. He was also prominent in 
local affairs, and for a number of years served 
as Highway Commissioner. 

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Becker — Elizabeth Jean and Mary Isadore. 
Mrs. Becker anil her daughters live on the 
home farm, which they have managed with 
success since Mr. Becker's death. They carry 
on general farming, using judgment in all mat- 
ters pertaining to the care of their one hundred 
and seventy-five acres. A part of the land is 
devoted to grazing, and a part to the raising of 
wheat, corn, and hay. They also continue 
the saw-mill business. Mrs. Becker and the 
Misses Becker are faithful members of the 
Lutheran church, and also of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. 

The history of the Harmon Becker home- 
stead is unique in that for fifty-six years no 



BlOGKAl'lllCAL RE\'IE\V 



death occurred on the place, either of its 
owners or family, or of the men or niaitis 
em|)lo)ecl by them during that time. The 
careful l)-kept records show that more than 
ninety souls lived, either permanently or tem- 
porarily, on the farm during those years. 




STEPHEN A. CURTIS, an account- 
ant in the Schenectady freight office 
of the Delaware & Hudson Canal 
Company Railway, was born on January 8, 
1S50, in ]51enheim, Schoharie County, N. Y. 
That town was the native place of his parents, 
Stephen L. and Eliza (Maham) Curtis. His 
grandfather, Benjamin P. Curtis, who did gar- 
rison duty at Sackett's Harbor, N.Y. , chu'ing 
the War of 18 12, went to Blenheim from 
Duanesburg, Schenectady County, N.Y. Jo- 
seph Curtis, the father of ]5enjamin P., came 
from Litchfield, Conn., to New York State 
soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, 
and, clearing a farm in the wilderness, suc- 
ceeded through his energy and perseverance in 
establishing a comfortable home. Of the chil- 
dren of Stephen L. and Eliza Curtis there are 
but two survi\-ors : Stephen A., the subject of 
this sketch; and Stanley D., who is now sta- 
tion agent for the ndaware & Pludson River 
Railway at Plattsburg, N.Y. He married 
Harriet Gardner, and has three sons, namely : 
Stanley, born in i8cS6; Charles, born in 1889; 
and George T. , born in 1892. 

Stephen A. Curtis acquired his preliminary 
education in the jjublic schoolsof Blenheim and 
Jefferson, and comjdeted his studies at the semi- 



nar)' in -Stamford, N. V., where he was fitted for 
educational work. l'"or a number of )ears he was 
a successful teacher in Schoharie ami Broome 
Counties. Coming to Schenectady in 1881, he 
entered the freight office of the Delaware & 
Hudson Canal Company Railway as book- 
keeper, and here after eighteen years of faith- 
ful service he remains at this day, a valuable 
member of their clerical force. 

Mr. Curtis married l^lla M. Danforth, 
daughter of Elijah Danforth, of Jefferson, N.\'. 
They have one daughter, Adeline. She is the 
wife of Ira Brownell, of Schenectady, and has 
one child, I'lleanor, born in 1897. 

Mr. Ciutis has been (piite active in ]niblic 
affairs, having served as E.xcise Commissioner 
and upon the board of United States Supervi- 
sors. Politically, he acts with the Democratic 
party. He is Past Dictator of Lodge No. 3715, 
Knights of Honor; is a charier member antl 
liy ilispensation I'irst Prophet of Saugh-Naugh- 
ta-da Tribe, No. 123, Improved Order of Red 
Men. He attends the Congregational church, 
and is now serving as a trustee. 



^"fON. SIMON J. schermi:kiiokn, 

an ex-member of Congress, one of 
the most prominent men of Rotter- 
dam, N.\'. , was born in this town, Se]3tember 
26, 1827, son of Jacob I. and Maria (\'eddcr) 
-Schermeilioin. His father was born in Rot- 
terdam in 1789, and his mothei' was born here 
in 1788. Mr. .Sclieinierhorn is a descendant 
in the eighth generation of Jacob Janse Scher- 
merhorn, who arrived from Holland about the 




J"^ 



JUSKl'H MALCOLM. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ZS 



year 1650, and founded the family which since 
that date has been prominently identified with 
Rotterdam and vicinity. The majority of its 
representatives have been extensive farmers. 
Jacob I. Schermerhorn, the father above named, 
was a leading sjiirit in local public affairs, and 
served with ability as Supervisor. 

Simon J. Schermerhorn acquired the usual 
district-school education provided for the chil- 
ilren of his day, and he certainly made good 
use of his meagre opportunities. Reared a 
farmer, like most of his neighbors, he has fol- 
lowed farming with unusual success, and he 
still has large agricultural interests. He has 
also dealt extensively in broom corn, and for 
thirty years he was engaged in the manufacture 
of brooms. He has business interests in other 
directions, and is vice-president of the Mohawk 
National Bank of Schenectady. 

On February 4, 1857, Mr. Schermerhorn was 
joined in marriage with Helen Veeder, who 
was born in Woe.stina, March 29, 1837, daugh- 
ter of Harman and Eleanor (Truax) Veeder. 
Her father was born in Rotterdam, and her 
mother was a native of Schenectady. Mr. and 
M"s. Schermerhorn have five children living; 
namely, Mary V., Sarah, Alice A., Andrew T., 
and Simon. 

Mr. Schermerhorn 's public record, which is 
familiar to the readers of the I'iEViEW, deserves 
more space than can consistently be allotted 
to a brief sketch. His efforts in behalf of 
improvements during his several terms as Super- 
visor, as well as the advance made in educa- 
tional facilities while he was Commissioner of 
that department for this county, fully merited 



the hearty commendation which they received. 
He ably represented this district in the Assem- 
bly during the session of 1862, was a Presiden- 
tial Elector on the Cleveland ticket in 18S8, 
and as a member of the Fifty-third Congress 
he supported such measures as were in his es- 
timation calculated to bestow the most benefit 
on the nation as a whole. Mr. and Mrs. Scher- 
merhorn are members of the Dutch Reformed 
church. 



OSEPH MALCOLM, of Catskill, N.Y., 
head of the firm of Malcolm & Co., and 
one of the oldest woollen manufacturers 
in the State, was born in Middlebury, Vt. , on 
August 24, 1838, son of Joseph and Harriet 
(Hrundage) Malcolm. His paternal grand- 
father, James Malcolm, was a silk weaver, 
who lived and died in Paisley, Scotland. 

Joseph Malcolm was born in Scotland, and 
lived there until si.xteen years of age, when he 
came to America and found employment as a 
mill operative in Middlebury, Vt., where in 
time he worked his way to the superintendency 
of a large mill. Later he had a mill of his 
own in Matteawan, N. Y. , and subsequently 
one in Pittsfield, Mass. He retired from busi- 
ness in Pittsfield, and died there at fifty-two 
years of age. In religious faith he and his 
wife were Presbyterians. Mrs. Harriet B. 
Malcolm was born in Cornwall, Orange 
County, this State. She died at the age of 
seventy, having been the mother of eight chil- 
dren. Of these, two died in infancy. Will- 
iam and Abraham are now deceased, and 
James, Joseph, Samuel, and George are living. 



26 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Samuel Malcolm resides in New York City, 
and James and George are in Pittsfield. 

Joseph Malcolm bej^an his working life at 
twelve years of age, going into a woollen-mill 
at Pittsfield, Mass., as a wool sorter. He had 
worked his way up to being in charge of the 
card and spinning room, when he enlisted, in 
1857, in Company D of the Eighth United 
States Infantry, which during his connection 
with it was on duty at Castle Williams and at 
Fort Columbus, New York Harbor. Dis- 
charged in 1859, Mr. Malcolm returned to his 
position in the Pittsfield mill, and he subse- 
quently remained there until some time after 
the breaking out of the Civil War. For one 
hundred days in the early part of the struggle 
for the Union, he was in the Allen Guard, sta- 
tioned at Worcester and in l^oston. On Sep- 
tember 18, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, 
Forty-ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volun- 
teers, which left the State in November under 
command of Colonel William F. Bartlett, 
sailed for New Orleans in January, 1863, and 
a few months later took part in the memorable 
siege of Port Hud.son, where occurred some of 
the most desperate fighting of the war. Pri- 
vate Malcolm, always showing his sturdy 
Scotch determination when duty was most per- 
ilous, was the first man to volunteer for the 
storming party. He doubtless inherited mar- 
tial ardor, as his mother's father was a soldier 
in the War of 18 12, and her grandfather in the 
Revolution. Ilis five brothers also enlisted, 
and w-erc in ser\ice from two to four years. 
One lost his life in the war, and one was 
wounded. 



After being mustered out at Pittsfield, 
Mass., September i, 1863, Mr. Malcolm went 
to Little Falls, N. Y., and was there for two 
years as superintendent of the Mohawk Wool- 
len Mills. Following that he was succes- 
sively superintendent in the knitting-mill at 
Amsterdam, N. Y. , in Troy, again at Amster- 
dam, then in Cooperstown, N.Y. , where he 
was both superintendent and a partner in 
Groat Van Brocklin's Mill. Going back once 
more to Amsterdam, he started a woollen in- 
dustry in company with one of his present 
partners, Mr. Pettingill. In 1886 he came to 
Catskill, where he has since been most success- 
ful in the management of his woollen-mill. 
In this plant one hundred and seventy hands 
are employed, and all kinds of men'.s, 
women's, and children's underwear are manu- 
factured. The mill is the second largest in 
this section. 

Mr. Malcolm's first wife was before her 
marriage Julia Marsh. She died leaving one 
daughter, Hattie L. , now the wife of Hamil- 
ton Jones, a plumber of Catskill, of the firm 
of H. T. Jones & Sons. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 
have one child, Dorothy. Mr. Malcolm's sec- 
ond wife, whose maiden name was Jennie 
Lewis, is the mother of one child, James L. 

In politics Mr. Malcolm is a Republican. 
He has been a member of the Catskill Hoard of 
Education, and he takes a lively interest in all 
matters pertaining to the general welfare. He 
is a director in the Catskill National Pank, 
and was formerly a director in the Young 
Men's Christian Association. He is a Mason, 
havinfr membershii) in the Plue Lodge of 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



27 



North Iloosick and in the Royal Arch Chapter 
of Catskill. Of the last-named body he is a 
charter member, and he has served it as scribe. 
He is a member of the Knights of Pythias of 
this town; of J. W. Watson Post, G. A. R. ; 
of the A. O. U. W. ; and of the Rip Van 
Winkle Club. He has been delegate from the 
post to the State commandery, but in general 
has refused offices in the \arious fraternal or- 
ganizations to which he belongs, as the de- 
mands of his business leave him little leisure. 
Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm are members of the 
Reformed church. 



/^^TeORGE HANER, M.D., an able 
\_f^J_ jjhysician and prominent citizen of 
Tannersville, Greene County, N.Y. , was born 
in Prattsville, Greene County, on the 6th of 
August, 1847. His sole heritage was that of 
an unsullied name and a constitution which 
had been developed through generations of in- 
dustrious sons of the soil. For three genera- 
tions the Haners and their wives have been 
hard-working, persevering, and in some degree 
successful citizens of Greene County. 

Martinus Haner, the Doctor's great-grand- 
father, was one of the pioneers who came to 
Prattsville from the more settled regions of 
Columbia County. He inmiediately engaged 
in peeling bark for the tanneries, which at that 
time formed the chief industry of the neigh- 
borhood. This pursuit he followed as long as 
his health permitted him to work. His son 
Martin continued the gathering and sale of 
bark, but besides this he cleared a large farm 



and won by his diligent application a degree of 
prosperity and comfort. 

Martin Haner married Miss Shoemaker, a 
native of Columbia County, by whom he had 
seven children, namely: Isaac; Henry; Will- 
iam M. , the Doctor's father; Patty M. ; PZliza- 
beth ; Lavinia; and Mima Ann. Patty M. 
married Samuel Chamberlain, who is no longer 
living; Lavinia became Mrs. Spencer; Mima 
Ann was married to Henry Palmer; and 
P^lizabeth became the wife of P^dward Cronk. 
Martin Haner brought up his children in such 
a way as to fit them for the battle of life; and, 
if he did not leave them a fortune, he at least 
taught them to win their own way to respect 
and independence. His wife died at the age 
of fifty, but for a few years more he remained 
with his family, closing an honorable life, with 
the love and respect of all who knew him, at 
the age of si.xty-si.x. 

William M. Haner, like his brothers and 
sisters, obtained his education in the common 
schools of the town. In the course of time he 
took possession of a part of the old homestead 
property, which he farmed with some success 
until 1866, when he removed to Jevvett. 
There he purchased a farm, but he only occu- 
pied it one year; and then selling it he re- 
moved to the town of Ro.xbury, near Grand 
Gorge, Delaware County. Here he purchased a 
large dairy farm, which he continued to occupy 
until 1895. He is now (July, 1899) seventy- 
six years of age, and is living with his children 
at Tannersville. He is a Democrat in poli- 
tics, and has held office as Road Commissioner 
and Overseer of the Poor. 



28 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



His wife, Cornelia, was a daughter of Jacob 
and Jennie (Stanley) Maginncs, who also were 
among the first settlers in Prattsville. She be- 
came the mother of eight children, four of 
whom are still living, namely: George, the 
subject of this sketch ; Jennie K. ; Homer H. ; 
and Clark K. Jennie E. is the wife of 
Charles Voss, the genial Postmaster of Tan- 
nersville, a sketch of whom will be found 
elsewhere in the Review. Homer has been 
for twenty years general agent for the Davis 
Sewing Machine Company, and for upward of 
three years he re]jresented their interests in 
Australia. Clark is a book-keeper and clerk, 
and resides at Tannersville. ]\Irs. Cornelia 
M. Haner died on May 15, 1899, at the age 
of seventy-three. She was for many years a 
useful anil honored member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

Thus it will be seen that George Haner 
started in life with no great advantages, but 
such as he had he turned to the very best ac- 
count. All that the common schools of Pratts- 
ville had to give he devoured with avidity, 
and si)eedily made his way at eighteen years of 
age from the ini])ils' bench to the teacher's 
desk. Quiet and reserved though he was, his 
efficient work soon called the attention of trus- 
tees and school commissioners, and he suc- 
cessively and successfully taught in the schocds 
of Red Falls, Jewett Centre, Windham, and 
Prattsville in Greene County, and Gilboa, Gal- 
lupville, and Middleburg in the neighboring 
county of Schoharie. With the power to 
teach came the love of and craving for more 
knowledge and he very soon proceeded to Fort 



lulward Institute, where he took an advanced 
course of study. A period was, however, put 
to his attendance at this school through lack 
of funds, but, nothing daunted, he turned to 
manual labor to supply his needs in this direc- 
tion. He obtained work as a carpenter, and 
it was while thus engaged that a direction was 
given to his mind which determined his choice 
of a lifework. He was assisting to build a 
house for Dr. D. M. Leonard at -Broome 
Centre, Schoharie County, and in discussing 
his future with that gentleman he was advised 
by him to adopt the prcjfession of medicine. 
Taking this advice, he at once began his studies 
with Dr. Leonard, with whom he remained 
until he entered the Medical College of the 
New York University, from w^hich he was 
graduated in the class of 1877. Thus equip])ed. 
Dr. Haner took up his residence in the town of 
Conesville, where he practised with success 
until 1.S80, when he came to Tannersville. 

In 1S80 Tannersville was only a small vil- 
lage, and the arrival of a young doctor with a 
university di])loma and some experience was 
indeed an acquisition. He very speedily im- 
pressed the inhabitants with his ])rofessional 
knowledge and ability, and as the years have 
rolled along his practice has increased and his 
reputation as a skilful physician has continued 
to grow. P"or ten years he practised without 
opposition. Besides his ortlinar)' practice he 
has a large clientele among the many city 
boarders who visit Tannersville during the 
summer months, and among whom he is de- 
servedly pojuilar, both from a i)rofessional and 
social point of view. His jjresent residence 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



29 



was erected in 1881, but it has been recently 
enlarged and beautified and made conij^lete by 
a most con\eiiient suite of offices. 

In politics the Doctor is a Democrat. He 
has twice represented his town as Supervisor, 
and durint,' the latter term was chairman of the 
board. The esteem of his fellow-citizens has 
also been manifested in his election to the 
office of Coroner for three terms of three years 
each. 

His public spirit has led him to take an 
active interest in all that concerned the pros- 
perity and development of the villa,i;e in which 
he resides. He was one of the incorporators 
and its first president. He took measures for 
the layini,'^ out of its sidewalks, and was a 
member of the building committee which 
erected the first ])ublic school -building. 

In 1S77 Dr. Haner was united in marriage 
to Miss Agnes More, of Ro.xbury, Delaware 
County, a daughter of Andrew and Ann E. 
(Hardenburgh) More and a thirtl cousin of the 
late Jay Gould. She had two sisters, Cornelia 
and Kate, and she has one brother, Samuel P. 
Kate was married to Mr. M. L. Benham. 
Samuel P. More is a juiblisher in Great Bend, 
Pa. Dr. and Mrs. Haner have one daughter, 
Helen. 

The Doctor is a charter member of the 
Mount Tabor Lodge, F. & A. M., and be- 
longed formerly to the Gilboa Lodge. He is 
a member of the C(ninty Medical Society, of 
which he has been secretary for three years, 
and also of the New York Physicians' Mutual 
Aid Association. 

Dr. Haner is also a prominent and entiiusias- 



tic member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and actively and generously participated in the 
movement which resulted in the erection of tlie 
present beautiful edifice in Tannersville be- 
longing to that body. He worked indefatiga- 
bly in the erection of the Methodist Episcopal 
parsonage, and to these objects combined has 
contributed upward of five hundred dollars. 

His interest in Sunday-school work dates 
back to his Conesville days, when he was su- 
perintendent of the school ; and ever since he 
came to Tannersville he has been ready with 
hand and brain, .sympathy and purse, to advance 
the work of God in the church of his choice. 
He has held almost every office that a layman 
can hold, representing his brethren at iioth the 
district and annual conferences, and is at the 
present time a trustee. 

Dr. Haner is yet in the prime of life, and if 
spared will be of inestimable service to the 
communitv amid which he resides. 




IMEON LAPE, a thriving general 
//^ merchant of Charlotteville, N. Y. , 
was born in the town of .Summit, 
Schoharie County, N.Y. , October 19, 1827, 
son of Samuel and Lana Lape. His [xiternal 
grandfathei', .Samuel Lape, who was the grand- 
son of a German immigrant and the father of 
several children that grew to maturity, was 
formerly a thriving farmer of Sand Lake, N.Y. 
Somewhat late in life he accompanied his son 
-Samuel to .Summit, and his last days were 
spent in this town. He was a member of the 
Lutheran chLirch. 



3° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Samuel \a\])c, the younger,- Simoon I.ape's 
father, served in the War <if 1S12. lie came 
to Summit when a \-ouni;' man, and, settlinj,' 
here upon a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, 
which he afterward enlarged, he became one of 
the most extensive farmers in this section. 
Though not a seeker after place, lie consented 
to hold some of the minor town offices. Origi- 
nally a Democrat in politics, he afterward be- 
came a Reiniblican. As one of the most active 
and infiuential members of the Lutheran 
cluuch, it was generally his lot to entertain 
the preachers, and his family was taught to 
believe that religious devotion was just as 
necessar)- at home as in a place of public wor- 
ship. He died at the age of seventy-three, his 
wife surviving him several years. They were 
the ])arents of si.xteen children, of whom ten 
(lied in infanc)' and six lived to maturity, the 
latter being: Luther, Simeon, John, (ieorge, 
Josiah, and Elizabeth. Luthei' and Josiah 
occupy the homestead. John is a resident of 
East Worcester, N.^^ ; and Elizabeth, who 
is the eldest, married Abraham Harrington, of 
Worcester, where she resides. (jeorge, who is 
living in Brooklyn, N.^'., was for a time en- 
traged as teacher in the New \'ork Conference 
Seminary and in civil engineering. 

Simeon Lape was educated in the common 
schools of Summit. Beginning industrial life 
as a farmer, he followed that occupation vmtil 
.thirty-eight years old, when, in partnership 
with a Mr. Decker, he purchased the general 
stock of goods of the store of La Monte & Co., 
of Charlotteville, N.\'. This copartnership 
lasted but about five months, at the end of 



which time Mr. Decker withdrew, leaving his 
associate sole projirietor of the establishment, 
which for the past thirty-one years Mr. Lape 
has carried on alone. As his trade developed, 
he enlarged his facilities and increased his 
stock, and for a number oi years he has 
transacted an extensive general mercantile 
business. Like his father he adheres to Re- 
publican ]irinciples; and, while he in\'ariably 
has refused to become a candidate for local 
offices, he accepted the ai)])ointment of Post- 
master, which he held in all for about twenty 
years. 

In 184S Mr. Lajie was united in marriage 
with Miss Lucy La Monte, of Charlotteville, 
daughter of Thomas \\'. and l-Hizabeth Maria 
(Payne) La Monte. Mrs. Lape was a descend- 
ant of John La Monte, of Coleraine, County 
.\ntrim, Ireland. Her first -American ancestor 
was Robert La Monte, who came to this coun- 
try with his mother, the widow of John, and 
settled in Columbia County, this State. 

Her great-grandfather, William La Monte, 
son of Robert, served in the Revolutionary 
War, and was present at the surrender of Gen- 
eral ]kngoyne. He married for his first wife 
Mrs. Phcebe Perkins, born Goss, and settled 
upon a farm in Noith Hinsdale, N.A'. After 
her death he mined into the then wilderness 
of Schoharie Count)-, locating in what is now 
the town of Eulton, where he lixed to an ad- 
vanced age. Mrs. Lape's grandfather, also 
named William, was born in Hinsdale, Janu- 
ary iT), 1784. When a }'oung man he settled 
in b'ulton, but about the year 1806 removed to 
Charlotteville, where he acquired possession of 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



31 



some seven luindred acres of land. An enter- 
prising business man, he kept a country store, 
and operated saw and grist mills. Being 
familiar with common law, he acted as legal 
adviser to his neighbors, pleaded their cases in 
the lower courts, and was several times elected 
a Justice of the Peace. In his religious belief 
he was a Methodist. He died September 5, 
1847. His wife, Jane, a daughter of Thomas 
Stillwell, died August 25, 1863, aged eighty 
years. They were the parents of six sons and 
five daughters, all of whom married and be- 
came the heads of families. 

Thomas W. La Monte, Mrs. Lape's father, 
was born in Fulton, August 29, 1 803. He 
was a prominent business man of Charlotte- 
\-ille in his day, and proprietor of the store 
which is now owned by Mr. Lape. He was 
also active in political and religious affairs, and 
was one of the founders of the New York Con- 
ference Seminary. He died June 3, 1853. 
His wife died April 7, 1898, aged eighty- 
seven years. She was the mother of thirteen 
children: Jacob, I^ucy, Elizabeth, William 
and David (twins), Thomas, Jennie, George, 
Kate, Austin, Hannah, Maria, and Julia. All 
the children received a good education. 
Thomas was for a time engaged in teaching at 
the Conference Seminary, but later became a 
Methodist minister. Get)rge, who taught 
school for some time in the South, became a 
successful paper manufacturer and the owner 
of a valuable patent. 

In 1S50 Mr. Lape joined the Methodist 
church, which he has since served as steward, 
trustee, and su]jerintendent of the .Sunday- 



school, also contributing liberally to its sup- 
port. Mrs. Lape died October iS, 1896, leav- 
ing no children. She was a member of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union and of 
the Independent Order of Good Templars. 




NDREW J. McMillan, who in the 
fall of 1898 was elected Assemblyman 
from Schenectady, is a thriving 
farmer of Rotterdam, N. Y. He was born 
upon the McMillan farm, a part of which he 
occupies, on February 9, 1856, being the only^ 
son of Andrew and Ellen (Darrow) McMillan. 
His father was born here on January 12, 1832, 
and his mother was born in Schenectady in 
1832. This farm was the property of his pa- 
ternal grandfather, James McMillan, a native 
of New Scotland, who settled here about 
seventy years ago, and who lived to be ninety- 
one years old. The maiden name of James 
McMillan's wife was Margaret VVingate. She 
died at sixty-five. 

Andrew McMillan, the father, succeeded to 
the homestead, and is still actively engaged in 
its cultivation. He has made various improve- 
ments in the property, and is widely known as 
a practical and successful agriculturist. In 
politics he acts with the Republican party, 
ami in his religious belief he is a Presbyterian. 
Ellen, his wife, whom he married in 1844, has 
had but one son, Andrew J., the subject of this 
sketch. 

Andrew J. McMillan was educated in the 
district schixds. As a youth he assisted his 
father, from whom he obtained a good knowl- 



32 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



edge (if farming, aiul .since reaching manhood 
he has tilled the soil ujjon his own account. 
He has at his disposal one hundred and seventy- 
seven acres, which he devotes to general farm- 
ing, and raises excellent crops. 

In November, 18.S2, Mr. .McMillan was 
uniteil in marriage with Anna L. Litklle, who 
was born in Duanesburg, daughter of Alexan- 
der Liddle. A sketch of her family will be 
found on another page of the Rk\ii.w. Mr. 
and Mrs. McMillan ha\e one son — Everett, 
who was born December J5, 1S1S4. 

Mr. McMillan is now in his third year as 
-Supervisor, and is rendering efficient service in 
that capacil)-. I'oliticall}-, he is a Republican. 
lie belongs to the Independent Order of Odd 
l-"ellows, being a member of Lodge No, 171, 
of Mount Pleasant. 




ILMER E. GOODSELL, of Hunter, sta- 
tion agent, telegraph operator, and 
agent ni the American I'lxprcss Compan)' on 
the Stony Chn-e iv Catskill Mountain Rail- 
road, was born in Jewett on April 17, 1865, to 
Amos and Harriet (Egbertson) Goodsell. His 
great-grandfather Goodsell was one of the pio- 
neer settlers of Jewett, coming to that ])lacc 
from the .State of Connecticut. His grand- 
father, John (Goodsell, who finished clearing 
tiie tract of land taken up liy the great-grand- 
father and spent his life engaged in farming, 
died at the age of fifty-seven. John Goodscll's 
wife, whose maiden name was Samantha Peck, 
married for her first husband a Mr. Hogardus. 
5he died at the age of fifty-foiu'. Hy her sec- 



ond marriage she had ten children, as fidlows: 
Amos, Amelia. ]\Iansfiehl, .Amanda, J. Iunor\', 
Lois, Adela, Anna, Elbert, and -Sarah. 

Amos (joodsell was reared on a farm, and 
during boyhood he attended the common 
schools of Jewett, his natiw: town. For over 
twenty years he carried on his farm in Jewett 
Centre. He then sold out, and since that time 
he has been working where he jdeascd. He is 
a Republican, and has held a number of town 
offices. His wife, Harriet, who died in 1S84, 
at the age of forty-eight, was a native of Jew- 
ett, and the daughter of Jacob Egbertson, an 
early settler and a farmer of that place. Mr. 
Egbertson and his wife both died at the age of 
eighty-two. Ihey had nine children ; namely, 
John, Ju.stus, Eliza, Sally, Tully, Caroline, 
Harriet, Jane, and Maria. .Amos and Harriet 
Goodsell reared a faniih" of three children; 
namely, Ella, George, and b'.lmer E. The 
daughter, Ella, is the wife of D. Clarence 
Gibbony, attorney-at-law, of Philadelphia; and 
her brother George is employed by the Mis- 
souri, Kansas & Texas Railroad at .St. Louis. 
The parents were active members in the Meth- 
odist b'.piscopal Church of Jewett. 

Elmer E. Goodsell recei\ed a common-school 
education. He then served some time as a 
teacher, and he sub.sequently attended Green- 
ville .Academy and Eastman's Husiness Col- 
lege. He was graduated at the last-named in- 
stitution in June, I 888, and shortly after came 
to the Hunter station as assistant to Mr. Pur- 
hans, who was the agent until 1894. When 
Mr. Burhans left tlie place, Mr. (ioodsell was 
appointed to succeed him, and in the few years 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



33 



he has held the position he has made himself 
exceedingly popular with both officials and 
patrons of the road. He is furnished one as- 
sistant the year through, and sometimes in the 
summer three. Most of the telegraphing he 
does himself. The Hunter station is the lar- 
gest on the line, being moreover the terminal 
station; and Mr. Goodsell is the oldest station 
agent on the line as to time of service for this 
compan}-. 

In iSgi Mr. Goodsell was united in mar- 
riage with Anna Bell Anderson, daughter of 
George W. Anderson, coal and lumber dealer, 
whose biographical sketch appears on another 
page of this work. Mrs. Goodsell, who has 
one sister, Mabel Anderson, is the mother of 
two children — Marguerite and Anderson. 

Mr. Goodsell is an ardent Keinil^lican, but 
lie has refused all public offices. He is a 
member of Mount Tabor Lodge, No. S04, 
F. & A. M., of Hunter, and both he and Mrs. 
Goodsell are members of the Methodist church 
and workers in the Sunday-.school. Mr. Good- 
sell was formerly secretary and librarian of the 
Sunday-school. 




^^./^ICVMOUR BOUGHTON, a promi- 
/ — ^ nent resident of Charlotteville, was 
born in Summit, November 17, 
1S34, .son of Seymour and Phoebe (Mix) 
Boughton. The father came here from Con- 
necticut, settling first in Charlotteville, and 
later moving to Summit \illage, where he 
kept a hotel. He afterward engaged in the 
cooper business, and also ran a distillery. 



.Studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 
1840, and thenceforward carried on a jirofitable 
general law business. 

Actively interested in public affairs, .Sam- 
uel Boughton, the elder, was elected to the 
Assembl}' on the Anti-rent ticket in 1S45, 
was twice elected Supervisor as a Democrat, 
was for some years a member of the county 
committee, served with ability as Excise 
Commissioner, and was Postmaster for eight 
years. He was very popular with all classes 
irrespective of part}', and Iiis personal charac- 
ter was such as to fully merit the high esti- 
mation in which he was held. He was an 
active member of the l^nptist church. He re- 
turned to Charlottex'ille in 1866, anil died here 
in 1871, aged eighty-one years. Nine chil- 
dren were born to him and his wife, Ph(fbe, 
namel}' : Lucius, who died December 11, 
1826; Harvey; Mary; .Squire, who died De- 
cember g, i8]g; Phoebe; Polly; Louisa; Har- 
mon K., who died in 185 i, aged twenty-four 
years; and Seymour, the subject of this sketch, 
he and his sister Mary being the onl)- sur- 
vivors. 

Seymour Boughton after finishing his educa- 
tion learned the carriage painter's trade in 
Cobleskill, mastering it without much diffi- 
culty, as he had a natural genius for handling 
the brush. Engaging in business for himself, 
his first contract, which amountetl to two thou- 
sand three hundretl dollars, was tendered him 
by parties in Gallupville; and he subsequently 
enlarged his business. I-^or many years he 
conducted the largest carriage-making estab- 
lishment in the county. He also did most of 



34 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



the rci)aiiing and painting in this and the ad- 
jacent towns, and at one time he carried on 
two shops. Of late he has been graekially 
withdiawing from inisiness, liiit still continues 
to fnlldw his trade to some extent. Mr. 
Boughton's connection with public affairs 
began as a boy in the Assembly at Albany, 
and he was elected Town Clerk the year he be- 
came a VDter. He afterward served as Con- 
stable two years, helil some minor town nfficcs, 
was elected Supervisor in 1878, reelected in 
1879, was County Clerk from 1881 (o 1S88, 
was Postmaster under Andrew Johnson and the 
second Cleveland administration, and has been 
a mcinhcr of the Democratic Town Committee 
for many years. His political record is a most 
honorable one, and it is worth}' of note that 
while some of the offices to which he was 
elected were iiotly contested, his candidacy for 
a second term as Supervisor was without op]x)- 
sition, a fact which demonstrates the confi- 
dence of his fellow-townsmen in his abilit\ and 
integrity. 

Mr. Boughton contracted his first marriage 
with Maggie I-'erguson, daughter of Thomas 
Ferguson. .She bore him four children, 
namely: Arthur J., l''rank, and Thomas G., 
none of whom are living; and Charles F. , who 
is a painter b)' trade and a musician of local 
repute. l'"or his second wife he married 
I'jnnia Nadlex', daughter of Christo]5her Nad- 
ley, and bv this union he has two children — 
l-'.dilh and Horatio .S. Boughton. 

Mr. Houghton belongs to Jefferson Lodge, 
No. 554, F. & A. M., and John L. Lewis 
Chapter, No. 229, R. A. M. 




r^^l 1:NRY C. van ZANDT, M.D., a 

prominent plnsician of .Schenectady, 
is a native of this city. He was 
born on January 11, 1844, son of Gilbert and 
Myra (H alii day) \'an Zandt. The family 
of which he is a representative was founded in 
America by Johannes \'an Zandt, who came 
from Anhcim, Holland, in 1660, and whose 
gra\'e is still visible in Trinit)' Churchyard, 
New York City. 

Peter P. \'an Zandt, a grandson of Johan- 
nes, settled in Schenectady, and several of his 
descendants have won distinction in this local- 
ity. He was elected a member of the Assem- 
bly, anil while in Alban\' he married a Miss 
Munson, of Schoharie. Dr. \'an Zandt's 
grantlfathcr was Garret't Van Zandt, who 
served as a soldier in the War of 181 2, and 
was stationed at Sackett's Harbor. The Doc- 
tor's mother was a daughter of Judge Halliday, 
of Rochester, N.Y. 

Henry C. \'an Zandt jirepared for liis col- 
legiate course at the Schenectady High 
School, and was graduated from Union College 
with the class of 1865. His preliminary med- 
ical studies were pursued under the tlircction 
of Dr. Vcdder, of Schenectaily ; and after grad- 
uation from tlie /Mban)' Medical .School he 
began the jiractice of his profession in this 
cit\', where he has gained a high reputation. 
He is also engaged in the drug business, and 
has one of the best equipped apothecary estab- 
lishments in this \'icinity. 

Dr. \'an Zandt is a membci' of the sur- 
geons' staff of I'^llis Hos|)ital, of Schenectady, 
also a member of the Sclicnectad)' County 




H. C. VAN ZAXDT. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Medical Society and of the State Medical 
Association. He belongs to St. George Lodge, 
No. 6, F. & A. M. ; is a Trustee of Schau- 
Naiigh-ta-da Tribe, No. 123, Improved Order 
of Red Men; and is a member of the Holland 
Society. 

He married Hattie Hilderbrand, daughter of 
Henry Hilderbrand, of Schenectady, N.Y. In 
his religions belief the Doctor is an Episco- 
palian, and is a warden of Christ's Church. 



C*)!! IlOMAS DORMADY, a retired locomo- 
q ) I tive engineer and a member of the 
Schenectady Board of Aldermen, was born in 
the town and county of Carlow, Ireland, Sep 
tember 10, 1S27, son of Andrew and Bridget 
(Rice) Dormady. Coming to Schenectady 
with his parents when two years old, Thomas 
Dormady passed through the common schools 
of this city, and was graduated from the high 
school. After learning the machinist's trade 
in the railway shops at Albanj', he followed it 
as a journeyman for a year, and then became a 
locomotive engineer on the Mohawk & Hudson 
River Railroad, which is now a part of the 
New York Central system. His first engine, 
which was imported from England in 1831, was 
originally called the "John Bull," but on being 
enlarged was renamed the ' Tiochester. " P'or 
over forty years he ran a regular day train be- 
tween Schenectad}', Albany, Utica, and Syra- 
cuse, and in 1894 he practically retired. In 
1 87 1 he was electeil to the Board of Aldermen 
for three years, and he was afterward re- 
elected for the two succeeding terms. As the 



Democratic candidate for Mayor in 1879, he 
lacked but three votes of lieing elected. In 
1890 he was again a member of the upper 
branch of the city government, and in 1897 he 
began his fifth term in that bod}'. The ward 
he represents is considered a Republican 
stronghold, a fact which amjjly attests his 
ability and populaiity. 

Mr. Dormady married Mary Sheean, a native 
of Troy, N.Y. , a daughter of Philip Sheean 
(deceased). His children are: Thomas, horn 
in 1858, a graduate of the high school and 
now a telegraph operator in .Schenectady; 
Annie, a graduate of St. John's Convent 
School ; Libbie, now the widow of J. J. Mur- 
phy ; and Bliilip, also a graduate of the high 
school and at present in the employ of the 
city. 

Mr. Dormady belongs to the Brotherhood of 
Locomotive Engineers, and has served as local 
chief of Division 83, now Di\'ision 172. 



OHN T. BENHAM, M.D., of Cones- 
/TN I ville, N.Y., one of the best known phy- 
sicians in this jiait of the country, was 
born in Hudson, N.Y., October 19, 1823, son 
of Dr. John P. and Elizabeth (.Smith) Benham. 
He is a descenilant in the ninth generation of 
his emigrant ancestor, who was an Englishman, 
and is the fourth representative of the family 
in a direct line to practise meilicine. Tbe 
great-grandfather was Dr. Cornevius Benham, 
wdio ]5ractiscd in Catskill, N. Y. , for many 
years; and his widow, who was of Dutch de- 
scent, married foi her second husband Dr. 



38 



];ioc;rai'hkal kf.view 



Van lUncn, a rclati\c of President Martin \'an 
liuren. Dr. Thomas IV'nliam, the grandfather, 
practised in Ashhuid, N.V., where he died at 
the afje of eif^chty-nine \'ears ; and two nt his 
SODS, naniel\', John 1'. and Jacob, heeanie suc- 
cessful pii\sicians. 

J)r. lohn r. JV'uhain, the father, resided in 
Hudson for many years, and then, moving 
from that town to ("onesville, practised there 
for the rest of liis life. He was favorably 
known over a wide circuit as a cajmble jihysi- 
cian, whose powers of endurance were unusually 
vij^'orous ; and at the time of his death, which 
occurred at the age of se\enty-three years, he 
was the oldest active medical practitioner in 
this county. He reared two children : JohnT. , 
the subject of this sketch; and Margaret E., 
who married lulwin H. Marshall and resides in 
Troy, N.Y. 

John r. Henham began his education in the 
district schools, and advanced in learning by 
attending the .Schoharie Academy. After 
working at the car])enter's trade some twelve 
years, he took up the stud)' of medicine with 
his father, who careful 1_\' directed his prepara- 
tions, lie also attended lectures at Woodstock 
and Castleton, Vt., and at the Berkshire Medi- 
cal College, Pittsfield, Mass. He subse- 
quently spent a year at the Broadway Hospital, 
New York C"it)', where he obtained much valu- 
able experience, and returning to Conesville 
he entered ujion the practice of his profession 
in company with his father. For over fifty 
years he has labored diligcnth' and success- 
fully in his calling, visiting the sick in all 
kinds of weather, a])|)arcnt 1)' oblivious of his 



own health or comfort; anil he is still remark- 
ably vigorous ami active. 

Dr. Bcnham married for his first wife Ro- 
sanna lloogland and for his second Anna M. 
Ladcr. He has two daughters b\- his first 
union, nameh' : Donna 1., who married Oscar 
Mervin ; and Margaret ]•'.., wife of Julian 
Myers. 

The Doctor has always been a great reader 
and an independent thinker, accustomed to rea- 
son out things, as he says, for himself, even 
the deep cpiestions of life. His religious o]iin- 
ions are liberal. Many kiiully acts in the way 
of charity can be traced directly to him, and 
he is highly respected by the entire community. 



EDWARD YOUNG, one of Middle- 
biu'g's literary men and the editor of 
the Middleburg Garjcl/c, is a natix'e of 
Prattsville, Greene County. He w'as born on 
January 6, 1S4S. His elementary education 
w-as obtained in tlie ]uiblic schools, and subse- 
quently he attentled Ro.xbury .Seminar)', froni 
which he was graduated. As editor of the 
Gazette he exercises a strong influence in 
moulding public opinion and in placing before 
the townspeople information which keeps them 
in touch with the most progressive thought of 
the day. The editorial columns of his paper 
are niarked by vigorous and ])ositive expression 
of opinion on all ([uestions of natinnal or local 
moment, as well as by cool and conservative 
criticism and lexel-headed judgment. He docs 
considerable writing for other publications. 
I'horoughly interested in the welfare ol the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



39 



town and believing that she needs the services 
of her best citizens in public life, he has freely 
given time and effort to serve her in many 
ways. For two years he was Town Clerk, and 
for twelve consecutive years, beginning in 
I1S81, he was village Clerk. In 1889 he rep- 
resented Schoharie County in the Assembly. 
He was one of the most ardent workers in se- 
curing the incorporation of the village, and 
also of the water company. Of the last named 
he is now one of the directors. He is a stock- 
holder in the First National Bank, and since 
1892 has been treasurer of Middleburg Acad- 
emy. He is also a member of the Board of 
Education.. In ])olitics Mr. Young is a most 
loyal Democrat, and his party has chosen him 
as delegate to State and county conventions, 
and as a member of the county committee. 

On November 15, 1893, Mr. V'oung was 
united in marriage with Inez Bouck, of Cones- 
ville, a daughter of James A. Bouck. He is 
a prominent Odd Fellow, and is at the present 
time District Deputy Grand Patriarch for the 
Schoharie district. Canton Young, of .Scho- 
harie, (if which he is a member, is named for 
him. 




YRUS SHOWERS, civil engineer, 
I contractor, and buiUler, of Tanners- 
ville, N. Y. , was born in this town, 
November 9, 1859, son of Isaac and Merilla 
A. (Loomis) .Showers. He is of the si.xth 
generation of his family in America, the line 
being traced back through Isaac, Japhet, Mi- 
chael, John, to the emigrant [progenitor, who 
came from Holland and settled in New Jersey, 



there spending the rest of his life. A more 
extended account of his ancestors will be found 
in a sketch of Isaac Showers, which appears 
elsewhere in the Review. 

Isaac .Showers, Cyrus Showers's father, was 
born in Hunter in 1827, and spent his youth 
on farms in this locality. He later engaged in 
civil engineering, which he followed quite e.\- 
tensivel)', and became one of the largest resi- 
dent land-owners in this section. He is now 
living in retirement. His wife, Merilla, was 
a daughter of Alvin J. and Harriet (Palmer) 
Loomis, of Windham. .She became the mother 
of eight children, four of whom are living; 
namely, Cyrus, Emma, Henry W. , and George 
Harding Showers. Emma married Edward 
Osborn, and resides in California. Henry 
W. is attending the Albany Law .School. 
George Harding Showers is studying civil 
engineering ac the Troy Polytechnic Institute. 
The others were : Jennie, who married .Stephen 
Vining, of Windham, and died at the age of 
forty-one; Elmer, who died at thirteen; Isaac, 
who died young; and Irving, who died at the 
age of four years. The parents are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Cyrus Showers was educated in the common 
schools of Tannersville, and resided on the 
home farm of three Inmdred acres, of which he 
took entire charge at the age of eighteen. He 
kept fifty cows, made butter for the local mar- 
ket, and supplied Hotel Kaaterskill with milk 
for .some years. At the age of twenty-five he 
went to Onteora Park to assist in building the 
cottages, and was made its superintendent. 
He later Injilt a large number of houses, com- 



4° 



mOGRAPHICAI, RF.VIEW 



])lctiii.Lj contracts aniouiitinj,' to one hundred 
thousand dollars in four years. He also built 
his ])rescnt dweliiuij, and continues to follow 
the business of a civil engineer, displaying a 
marked abilit)' for that profession. He at one 
time engaged in mercantile business for a short 
period. Politicalh', he is a Re]Hiblican. Aj)- 
pointed Deput)" .Sheriff in 1.S88, he served 
until i8gi and again from 1894 to 1898. He 
was an Assessor two terms and a member of 
the county committee for several years. lie 
has been secretar)- of the village Board of 
Trustees ever since its establishment, and is 
also a member of the I?oard of Health. 

In 1883 Mr. Showers was joined in mar- 
riage with Lillie E. Ford, who was born in 
Lexington in 1863, daughter of Charles L. and 
Harriet (Humphrey) Ford. Her father and 
grandfather were both natives of Jewett ; and 
Charles L. l'"ord, who at one time carried on a 
farm and kept a boarding-house in Lexington, 
moved to Tannersville, where he was similarly 
engaged, and still spends liis summers in that 
village. Mrs. .Showers's mother was a native 
of Lexington, daughter of the Rev. I';ii li. and 
Fniily (Cline) Humphrey, the former of whom 
was a well-known J^aptist minister, and died at 
the age of eighty. Her grandparents had a 
family of twehe children, nine of whom aie 
living, among them Hiram, Horace, .Sabrina, 
I.ucina, .Su.san, Harriet, Ophelia, luidocia. 
The otlieis were: Aniasa, Mar\-, anil l''.liza- 
beth. Charles L. and Harriet Ford are the 
jiarents of two children: Lillie, who is now 
Mrs. .Showers; and Jennie ]•;., who nianieil 
Dr. Robert L. Graham, of lirooklyn, N. Y. 



.Mr. .Showers is an active member of the 
Methodist Episcojial church, of which he is a 
steward and trustee, and he served upon the 
building committee which erected the new- 
church edifice. Mrs. Showers united with the 
chiu'ch at the age of fifteen. .She is a mem- 
ber of the choir, and was organist for eight 
}'ears. 




ICHTMVER 1IUHH]-;LL, MA)., an 
able ]jhysician and prominent citizen 
of Jefferson, N.Y., was born in Gil- 
boa, Schoharie County, N. Y. , h'ehruary j, 
1843, son of Jacob Riclitmyer and Harriet 
(Pierce) Hubbell. The name Hubbell, which 
originated in Wales, is said to ha\-e been de- 
rived from Hubba, a Danish chief who camped 
u]K)n a hill. It passed through several changes, 
incluiling Hubbashill and HubhiU, iiefore the 
]iresent form of spelling was adopted. 

Richard Hubbell, the immigrant ancestor, 
of whom the Doctor is a descendant in the 
eighth generation, was born in Wales in 1627. 
He arrived in New England in 1645, and in 
I ('147 he took the oath of allegiance to the New 
Haven Colonial government. In 1664 he 
moved to Fairfield County, Connecticut, and 
in 1685 became one of the original jjroprietors 
of Fairfield townshi[i. He died October 23, 
1699, and his remains were intened in .Strat- 
ford hur\ing-groiuKl, now included within tin- 
limits of the city of Rridgeport. Ricliaid 
Hubbell was three times married, and was the 
father of fifteen children. I'"rom him the line 
of descent is traced directl)-, through Samuel, 




RICHTMYER HUBBELL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 



43 



Nathan, Peter (first), Peter (second), Matthias, 
and Jacob R., to Dr. Richtmycr Hubbcll, the 
subject of this sketch. 

Peter Hubbell, second, the Doctor's great- 
grandfather, who married Sally Ilurlburt, re- 
moved with his family from Connecticut to 
Schoharie County early in the present century. 
His brother-in-law, Joseph Hurlburt, built the 
first store in the village of Gilboa, and resided 
on what is known as the Dr. Fanning farm. 

Matthias Hubbcll, Dr. Hubhell's grand- 
father, accompanied his parents from Connect- 
icut when a boy, and during his active years 
he was Justice of the Peace and followed gen- 
eral farming in the towns of Gilboa and l^len- 
heim. He married for his first wife Sophia 
Richtmyer, who was of German ancestry. 
The grandparents were buried in the old cem- 
etery in Gilboa village. 

Jacob I'vichtmyer Hubbell, Dr. Hubbell's 
father, was a lifelong resident of this county. 
He died in Sharon Springs, N.Y. , November 
II, 1896, aged just seventy-six years, and was 
buried in Jefferson. His wife, Harriet, was a 
daughter of Benona and Betsey (Davis) Pierce, 
of North Blenheim. Her father was a de- 
scendant of Captain Michael Pierce, who came 
over from England about 1645, settled at Scit- 
uate, Mass., in 1647, and was killeil in a fight 
with Indians in King Philip's War in March, 
1676, while commanding his company. This 
is the line of ancestr)' : Captain Michael,' 
Ephraim,- Ephraim,^ Mial,^ Job,' Job,'' and 
Benona,' father of Mrs. Hubbell. Benona 
Pierce was born in 17S1, a son of Job Pierce, 
Jr., of Rehoboth, Mass., and died in 1S55. 



His wife, Mrs. Betsey D. Pierce, born in 
May, 1789, died in September, 1S81. 

Jacob R. and Harriet (Pierce) Hubbell were 
the jiarents of six children, namely : Richt- 
myer, the subject of this sketch; Charles B., 
a furniture dealer and undertaker in Jefferson; 
Hiram P., a physician of Stamford, Delaware 
County; Elizabeth, wife of J. Perry Champlin, 
of Ruth, Schoharie County ; Sophia, who mar- 
ried J. E. Preston, of Sharon Springs; and 
P'red E. Hubbell, who died September 23, 
1892, aged about thirty years. 

Richtmyer Hubbell acquired his early edu- 
cation in the district schools and at the acad- 
emy in Roxbur)', Delaware County, which he 
attended one term. At the age of sixteen he 
Ijegan teaching during the winter season, his 
summers being devoted to agriculture; and, 
having taught schools in Gilboa, ]?lenheim, 
and Eminence, he in 1S63 began the study of 
medicine under the direction of the late Dr. 
A. A. Wood. In the fall of that year he ac- 
companied his precejjtor to Wisconsin, where 
he resumed teaching for a time at Almond, 
Wis., and also continued his studies with Dr. 
Wood and Dr. Guernse)', of Almond, Wis. In 
1864 he enlisted as a Corporal in Comjjany M, 
First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, of which he 
was shortly afterward appointed clerk, and he 
served until the close of the Civil War. Re- 
turning to Schoharie County after his dis- 
charge, he subsequently entered the Philadel- 
phia University of Medicine and Surgery, 
from which he was graduated P'ebruary 21, 
1866. Borrowing the money to purchase a 
team and medical OLitfit, he began the 



44 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIKW 



practice of his profession in Harpcrsfield, 
Delaware County, N. Y. I'or tiic succeeding 
eleven years his practice, which covered a 
wide circuit, extending into two adjoining 
counties, kept him constantly driving from 
place to place through all kinds of weather. 
While residing in riar]Tersfield he serxed four 
terms as Town Clerk and three terms as Su- 
pervisor. On December 25, 1876, Dr. Hub- 
bell sold his practice, together with his real 
estate in Harpcrsfield, to his brother, Hiram 
P., and removetl to Jefferson, where he almost 
immediately accpiired [jromincnce as a skilful 
jiiiNsician and surgeon. Although his practice 
is large and his time exceedingly valuable, he 
has never been known to neglect the worthy 
jioor, believing, as he does, that life and 
health are as dear to them as to those who are 
more fortunate ; and, as he himself declares, if 
tiiey are unable to pay him in dollars and 
cents, the\- ha\e more than liquidated his 
claim ui)on them by their genuine gratitutle. 
He has frequently held the offices of presi- 
tient and secretary of the Eclectic Medical So- 
ciet)' of the Susquehannah District, comprising 
the counties of Schoharie, Delaware, and Ot- 
sego, and (hiring his professional career he has 
directed tiie preparatory studies of five stu- 
dents, four of them becoming skilful medical 
])ract it loners and one a successful druggist. 
Two of the five are now deceased. In 1880 he 
established the Jefferson Hanking House, which 
he carried on for two years; and, when the 
present bank at Stamford, N. Y. , was founded, 
he was requested to become its president, but 
his professiouLil duties jireviMited iiim from ac- 



cepting the office. His hearty co-operation is 
ahvays to be depended upon in forwarding all 
measures calculated to be of benefit to the 
town. He was acti\-e in securing the ]iresent 
water-works s\stem, together with a public 
foimtain, the Jefferson Co-operative Creamery, 
and so forth; and he is using his influence for 
the establishment of a union free school, with 
academic advantages. He is actively en- 
gaged in general farming, raises Jersey cattle, 
and owns about two thousand acres of agri- 
cultural property. 

On April 29, 1866, Dr. Hubbell married 
for his first wife Amelia S. Decker, of Gilboa, 
daughter of Jacob Decker and a sister of 
William H. Decker, Supervisor of that town. 
She died January ig, 1889, leaving four ciiil- 
dren — P'rank J., Hattie A., Benona R., and 
Grace Greenwood. P'rank J. is a iirosjierous 
farmer of Jefferson, and Hattie A. is the wife 
of Charles 1{. Nichols, an attorney of this 
town. The other children reside at home. 
On August 27, 1890, the Doctor married for 
his second wife Miss Rose E. Decker, his first 
wife's sister. Of this union there is one son, 
P'red D. , born July 3, 1893. 

I'olitically, Dr. Hubbell is a Republican, a 
protectionist, and a firm believer in gold as a 
monetary standard. He belongs to the Meth- 
odist I^piscopal church, and has been a mem- 
ber since he was sixteen \ears old. 



4^»^» 



/ 3) p:ORt;E LAS11P:R, a prosperous 
\M_I_ farmer of Duanesburg, N. Y., and an 
ex-member (jf the .State Assembly, was born in 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



45 



this town, September 20, 1834, son nf James 
M. and Marion (Kennedy) Lasher. The 
father's birth took place July 4, 181 i, in a 
log house on the Lasher farm. This farm was 
cleared from the wilderness by the paternal 
grandfather, George Lasher, who was a native 
of Dutchess Count}', and came here in the year 
1800. A sturdy, persevering man, he suc- 
ceeded in overcoming the many difficulties of 
a pioneer's life; and he resided here until his 
death, which occurred August 15, 1846. He 
married Helen McMillan, a native of Glasgow, 
Scotland. In politics he voted with the 'Whig 
party. He was an active member of the Dutch 
Reformed church. 

James M. Lasher, the father, succeeded to 
the ownership of the farm, which he still holds ; 
and for many years he cultivated it energeti- 
ally. Moving to Mariaville in 1862, he was 
engaged in mercantile business and the manu- 
facture of lumber here in company with his 
son George until his retirement in 1880, since 
which time the store and saw-mill have been 
leased. Politically, he acts with the Republi- 
can party. For many years he has been an 
Elder of the Presbyterian church. Marion, his 
wife, who was born in Milton, Saratoga 
County, July 5, 1812, died on July 20, 1888. 
She was the mother of five children, namely: 
Anna A., who married the Rev. James 'VV. 
Johnston, and died in North Carolina in 1886; 
Mary Helen; George, the subject of this 
sketch; John Kennedy, of Yonkers ; and Will- 
iam M. Lasher, of New York City. 

George Lasher began his education in the 
common schools, and completed his studies 



with a commercial course at Eastman's Busi- 
ness College, Poughkecpsie. At the age of 
twenty-one he became associated in business 
with his father, under the firm name of Lasher 
& Son, and since the retirement of the elder 
Lasher he has had full charge of the ]n'operty, 
including the management of the farm, which 
contains two hundred acres. Mr. Georse 
Lasher is unmarried. 

Since becoming a voter he has manifested a 
keen interest in local public affairs, and his 
ability displayed in various official caixicities 
has proved beneficial to the community. He 
served as Justice of the Peace for several years, 
was .Supervisor three years, and was a member 
of the Assemlaly in 1881. He is particularly 
interested in educational matters. In politics 
he is a Republican. He and his father occupy 
a handsome residence located upon the shores 
of a beautiful lake. They are highly respected 
members of the community. Mr. Lasher is an 
Polder of the Presbyterian church. 



^ClLHERT OSPORN BRUCE, M.D., a 

J well-known practising physician of 

the town of Seward, N. Y. , has been located in 
the village of Hyndsville for nearly twoscore 
years, and with one exception is the oldest- 
established practitioner in Schoharie County. 
He was born in the neighboring town of Sum- 
mit, December 6, 1839, a son of the Rev. 
Samuel and Theodosia (Harrington) Bruce. 

Samuel Bruce, Sr., father of the Rev. Sam- 
uel, was born and reared in Scotland, and he 



46 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



lived there until alter his marriage. Cnmiiii;- 
then to America with his bride, formerly a 
Miss Armstrong, he became a ])ioneer settler 
of Oneida County, New York, where he took 
up a tract of wild land, cleared a s])ace, and 
erected the Io.l;" house in which he made his 
home during his remaining days. VVitli untir- 
ing energy and true heroism he labored to re- 
claim a farm from the primeval forest, and his 
efforts were well rewarded. He passed to the 
life beyond at the age of sixty-five years ; but 
his wife survived him many years, attaining 
the age of ninety-five. 

The Rev. -Samuel Bruce was one of a family 
of three ihildren. He was brouglit up at the 
old homestead, and received his early education 
in the pioneer schools of his district. Pos- 
sessing great mental ability, he continued to 
add to his store of knowledge by judicious 
reading and studying, and for several years was 
employed as a teacher. He afterward settled 
on a farm in Summit, where he carried on 
general farming for some time. He also 
preached at Schoharie and elsewhere in this 
county. He was ordained as a minister of the 
Lutheran church, and subsequently followed 
his vocation in Otsego County, settling at 
South Worcester, where he died at the age of 
seventy-two years. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Theodosia Harrington, was a daugh- 
ter of William Harrington. Shesurvi\'ed him, 
passing away at the venerable age of fourscore 
and ten years. Of their eight children seven 
are now living, namely: Samuel W. ; James; 
Elbert O. ; Richard; P'-li, who occupies the 
old homestead ; Lavinia, wife of Oliver Mow- 



bran}-; and Martha, wife of -Sylvester Smith, 
of Onet)nta. Lucy Jane is deceased. 

Elbert O. Ikuce left home wlien a lad of ten 
years to become a pujjil in the New \'ork Con- 
ference Seminary, which he attended until it 
was burned, four years later. He subsecjuently 
read medicine with Dr. George H. Leonard, 
and in 1859 was graduated from the Castlelon 
Medical College at Castleton, \'t. Returning 
then to East Worcester, Otsego County, Hr. 
Hruce assisted his former instructor, Dr. I^eon- 
ard, a few months, and then came to Hynds- 
ville, where he has since remained, a trusted 
physician and an esteemeil citizen. During 
this time he has seen Hyndsville de\eloped 
from a small hamlet of three or four houses to 
a flourishing village, and in its advancement 
and welfare lie has been an imjjortant factor. 
He has built u]) an extensive practice, his ride 
extending twenty miles in either direction from 
the village; and from his first day of ])ractice 
until the present date he has ke])t abreast with 
the times in regard to the progress made in the 
science of medicine. Through the leading 
medical journals he kee[)s informed of the new 
diseases anil their treatments, and of the newer 
methods emjiloyed in curing oUI-time diseases 
of all kinds. 

Dr. Bruce is a charter member of the -Scho- 
harie County Medical .Society, of which he 
has been |)i-esident three years and secretary 
five year.s, also having held all tlie other offices. 
Beforet his body of his professional brethren 
the Doctor is frequently called upon to read 
jxipers ; and he has likewise contributed arti- 
cles on different topics, including diphtheria 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



47 



and typhoid fever, to the Medical World. He 
is also a member of the New York State Med- 
ical Society, and has been a delegate three years. 
In politics he is a sound Democrat. He has 
served as Town Clerk six years; was Super- 
visor in 1869 and 1S70; has been a member of 
the School Committee several years; and from 
1885 until 1889, under President Cleveland's 
administration, he served as Postmaster. Dur- 
ing that time he was nominated as candidate 
for member of Assembly, but being Postmaster 
he was obliged to withdraw his name. He is 
a prominent Mason, belonging to Cobleskill 
Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 394, and to Cobleskill 
Chapter, R. A. M. , No. 229. He is a member 
of the Methodist church, of which he is a trus- 
tee, and for many years has been connected 
with its Sunday-school. 

Dr. Bruce was married Jutie 21, 1857, to 
Miss Cynthia Brown, the only child of Perley 
Brown, who was for many years a prominent 
man and the leading merchant of Summit. 
Dr. and Mrs. Brown have an adopted son, 
]3crtie, now a pupil in the Cobleskill High 
School. 




^ 



|OBERT SELDEN, M.D., a leading 
physician of Catskill, N.Y., residing 
at 271 Main .Street, was born in 
Shanesville, Ohio, on August 21, 1847, his 
parents being Dr. Orrin G. and Catherine 
(Hall) Selden. His grandfather, Robert Sel- 
dcn, was a Scotchman, by occupation a miller. 
He came to this country when his son Orrin was 
seven years of age, and, settling in Massachu- 
setts, worked at fanning there during the re- 



mainder of his life. The maiden name of his 
wife was Balfour. 

Orrin Selden was brought up on a farm, and 
followed agricultural pursuits until he became 
of age. His education was received in the 
common schools and in the academy at Haver- 
hill. While still a young man he went to 
Ohio, where he taught school for some time. 
He subsequently studied medicine, and prac- 
tised in Ohio and Wisconsin. He settled in 
Catskill in 1877, and here he resided until his 
death in 1894, one of the leading practitioners 
of this vicinity. His wife, Catherine, was 
born in Winsted, Conn. She was the daugh- 
ter of Reuben Hall, a shoemaker by trade, who 
espoused the cause of the black man and early 
allied himself with the anti-slavery party. He 
went South, and started a school and Sunday- 
school for negroes at Fayetteville, but was 
burned out, losing all his property. Pic then 
removed to Pennsylvania and later to Ohio, 
where he died at the age of eighty. Orrin 
G. Selden and his wife were the parents of 
three children, of whom there are living Rob- 
ert and Mary. Mrs. Selden died at the age of 
fifty-two. She was brought up a Methodist, 
but after her marriage she joined the Presbyte- 
rian church, of which her husband was a mem- 
ber. 

Robert Selden spent his early life in Ohio. 
He read medicine with his father, and then 
took a course at the Charity Hospital Medical 
College, of Cleveland, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1870. He began practice at Shanes- 
ville with his father, and continued there after 
the latter removed to Wisconsin. Subse- 



-|8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



(|uently tlic f;ithcr and s(in were associated in 
practice here until tiic death of the father. 
Dr. Robert Seldcn has been here since 1882. 
He lias a very large jjractice and one that is 
constantly increasing. His patients are to be 
found not only in the village, but in all the 
outlying districts. 

Dr. Selden was married in iScSo to Charlotte 
K. (lardiner, ilaughter of William H. (iardiner. 
She was born in W'hitesboro, N. Y. , where her 
father was a physician. Dater he went to 
Ohio. While there he received an api)oint- 
ment as iiost surgeon for the ami)- at Nash- 
ville, and while engaged in the discharge of 
the duties of that position he was attacked 
with cholera, which jjroved fatal. His wife, 
Emily Hull, bore him si.x children, of whom 
the living are : Mrs. Buss, of Cleveland; Mrs. 
Selden; and Emily II. Dr. and Mrs. Selden 
have two daughters — Catherine !•-. and Fan- 
nie, both of whom are attending school. 

The Doctor is a member of the New \'iirk 
Medical Association, and has been its vice- 
president ; also a member of the Greene County 
Medical Society, of which he has been presi- 
dent. He has read numerous \-aluable papers 
on medical subjects before both organizations. 
He has been a Mason since 1S70. He holds 
membership in Catskill Lodge, No. 468, F. & 
A. M., of which he is a trustee and a Past 
Master; in Catskill Royal Arch Chapter, No. 
285, of wliich he is a charter member and 
present High Priest; in Lafayette Comman- 
dery, K. T., of Hudson, of which he is 
Past Commander; in Mvstic .Shrine, Cyjiress 
Temple, of Albany; in the Fraternal Union of 



Anointed High Priests, which includes the high- 
est officers from the various Royal Arch Chap- 
ters of the .State; and in the Association of 
Tem])lar Knights Commanders. He is medi- 
cal examiner for a number of the largest insur- 
ance companies and for the A. 0. U. W., of 
which he is a member and has been for several 
)ears financier. In politics the Doctor is a 
Democrat. He was Town .Suiiervisor for one 
year. His ]ibrar\-, of which he is justly 
proud, is the largest and finest private library 
in the county. Dr. and Mrs. Selden are mem- 
bers of St. Luke Episcopal Church, and he has 
been for a number of years a vestryman. 



's^OHN A. NEWELL, of the well-known 
mercantile firm of Potter & Newell, 
Main Street, Windham, Greene County, 
N.\'., was born in Durham, N.Y.. on Sep- 
tember 21, 1829, son of Andrus and Julia 
(Hushnell) Newell. His paternal grandfather, 
John Newell, was a native of Southington, 
Conn., and came to Durham among the early 
pioneers of that town. 

Caiitain John Newell, as he was widely 
known from his rank in the .State militia in 
the earlv trainiuL;" daws, built first a lo;/ cabin 
and then a frame house, which he kept as a 
tavern for many years. He was of sturdy 
stock that could endure hardshi])s without 
flinching, and his common sense equalled his 
stalwait frame. He was a militia man in the 
War of 1812. He lived to be over seventy 
years of age, and his wife also lived to be old. 
They reared a family of eight children. 




JOHN A. NEWKLL. 



J 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Andnis Newell, who was born in IJurham, 
became a jirosperous farmer on his one hundred 
and sixty acres. He tore down the building 
tiiat his father had used as a tavern, and 
erected in its place the large and handsome 
house which is now the home of his son 
Charles. Like his father he was a man of 
sound judgment and of sjilendid physical 
strength, being hearty and hale up tt) the time 
of his death, at the age of eighty-six. He was 
originally a Whig in politics and later a Re- 
publican, and he held numerous offices tluring 
his long and active life. His wife, Julia, died 
at the age of fifty years. She was a native of 
Westbrook, Conn. Both were de\'0ted mem- 
bers of the Congregational church. Of their 
ten children Louisa died at the age of twenty- 
seven, Zina died at the age of seventy-one, and 
Edwin at the age of five years. The living 
are: John A., Sylvia, Abby, Adelbert, Eliza- 
beth, Charles, and Eliezur D. Sylvia is the 
wife of the Rev. S. H. Fellows, of VVauregan, 
Conn. Abby is the wife of Professor Gilbert, 
teacher of mathematics in the high school 
at Albany, N. Y. Adelbert is a prosperous 
farmer of Cox.sackie, N. Y. Elizabeth is Mrs. 
Borland A. Peck. Charles is a farmer on 
the old homestead, and Eliezur resides with 
him. 

John Newell lived with his parents until he 
was about sixteen and a half years of age, when 
he came to Windham. He had received a 
common-school education, and upon coming 
here he began learning the cabinet-maker's 
trade with Mr. Potter, his present partner. 
At the age of twenty-one, having finished his 



apprenticeship, he went to New Vork City, 
where he worked for two years. During this 
time he saved a small amount of money, and at 
the close of his second year he received an 
offer from Mr. Potter to return to Windham 
and enter into partnership with him. This 
offer he accepted, and in 1(852 was formed the 
partnership that is now the oldest in existence 
in this county. Since that time Messrs. Pot- 
ter & Newell have built up a very large trade 
in Windham and the surrounding region. 
Both gentlemen are skilled workmen in every 
branch of furniture manufacturing, having 
made all kinds of furniture by hand. They 
have in past years done considerable manufact- 
uring on their own premises, and still continue 
to manufacture cofifins and caskets. Their 
trade in furniture is extensive, and as they are 
the only undertakers within a radius of ten 
miles they practically do all the business in 
that line hereabouts. No firm is better known 
in all the surrounding country than that of 
Potter & Newell. 

In 1856 Mr. Newell married luniice Hunt, 
who was born in the house in which Mr. New- 
ell now resides. Her parents were Daniel 
and Mary (Rowley) Hunt, both of whom were 
members of the Presbyterian church. Of their 
family of four boys and five girls three are 
living and reside in Windham. Mr. Hunt 
was a leading man in the town and |)rominent 
in all i)ublic affairs. I^y occupation he was a 
miller, and he built the mill now standing 
here and the mill-race. Mrs. Hunt, who was 
horn in Lexington, died at the age of sixty- 
three. Mrs. Newell dietl on October 10, 



52 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



1898, dropping suddenly from heart disease, at 
the age of sixty-seven. Mr. Newell has lost 
his two children — Highland and Mary E. 
Ilighlaml Newell, who was a youni; man of 
unusual promise, died at the ai;e of twenty- 
three. He was a member of the Hampden 
Watch Company, of Springfield, Mass., having 
learned the watchmaker's trade in his native 
jilace. He had been in business three years 
when cut down by a fatal illness. Mary E. 
died at five years of age. 

I'dliticallv, Mr. Newell is a Republican. 
He has served his townspeojile in the office of 
Collector of Ta.xcs and as Auditor of the town 
accounts, and has been a candidate for Siiper- 
\'isor. He is a mendier of Momitain Lodge of 
Masons, No. 529, having joined shortly after 
the lodge was organized. His interest in 
Masonic affairs has been active and unremit- 
ting, and he has held nearly every office in the 
lodge. He was Master at the lime the Ma- 
sonic Teni|)le in New \'ork was dedicateil. 
l''or nearly fifty years Mr. Newell has been an 
active worker in the Presbyterian church in 
this |)lace, and for the last thirty years has 
been the leading tenor in the church choir, 
which is the best in an\- town in the county 
outside of Catskill. lie comes of a musicgl 
famih', all of them being singers. l'"or more 
than a (piarter of a century he has been an 
b-lder in the chiu'ch, and for nine years he 
served the Sunday-school as its superintend- 
ent. He can scarcely remember the time 
when he was not connected with the .Sunday- 
school, either as pu|)il, teacher, or suiierin- 
tendent. 



OHN D. CAM THE LL, who owns and 
occu])ies the old Camjjbell homestead in 
Kiitterdam, N.V., was born in Alban\- 
this State, Mav 14, 1S44, son of Daniel 1). 
anil Julia A. (Sitterly) Campbell. Mr. Camp- 
bell's father, who was adopted by an aimt, was 
a son of Jacob and Angelica (Bradt) .Schermer- 
horn. Jacob was a son of Simon and Sarah 
(\'rooman) Schermerhorn. .Simon was a son of 
Jacob and Margaret (Teller) Schermerhorn. 
Jacob was a son of R_\'er and Aiiantje (Bradt) 
Schermerhorn; and Ryer wis a son of Jacob 
Janse Schermerhorn, the emigrant ancestor, 
who was born in Waterland, Holland, in 1622, 
and who marrietl Jamiettie Segers \'an \'oor- 
houdt. 

John D. Campbell was reared in Albany, 
and acquired his etlucation in the schools of 
that city. Since early manhood he has been 
extensively engaged in agiicultural puisuits, 
and is now the owner ot the Cam])l)ell home- 
stead of three hundred acres and tlie X'edder 
farm. His place, with its Colonial brick 
mansion, is one of the most pretentious and 
attractive country seats in this section, the 
spacious grounds being shaded by graiul cdil 
trees, thus adding to the condcirt as well as the 
beauty of the surroundings. 

On August 23, 1871, Mr. Campbell was 
joined in marriage with l^lizabeth Clute, who 
was born in Schenectaily, N.\'., October 30, 
1848. She is now the mother of four children, 
namel)- : l)a\ id, born December 3, 1873; 
Julia A., born June 22, 1S76; John D., Jr., 
born March 25, 1878; and Bessie B. , born Au- 
gust 7, 18S0. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



S3 



Mr. Campbell is one of the most noted agri- 
eulturists of Rotterdam, anil he makes a spe- 
cialty of raising thoroughbred cattle and 
horses. Politically, he is a Democrat, and 
was a member of the Assembly in 1882. 




C^TX^DREW G. BALDWIN, proprietor of 
one of the best dairy farms in Gilboa, 
N.Y., was born in Greenville, 
Greene County, this State, December 11, 1827, 
son of Harvey and Eliza (Boyd) Baldwin. His 
father was born in Woodbury, Conn., Septem- 
ber 7, 1799, and his mother was born in 
Greenville, March 17, 1800. His paternal 
grandfather, Andrew Baldwin, who was a 
native of Connecticut, and lived there a num- 
ber of years after marrying, removed with his 
family to Greenville, and later from there to 
Mount Morris, N. Y. , where he died. He was 
an industrious farmer. He had six children, 
namely: Deborah, who never married; Nancy, 
who was the wife of Judge Reuben Hine, of 
New York City; Harvey ; Andrew, who died 
while young; Hannah, who married James 
Conkey, of Mount Morris; and Harriet, who 
married William Barnes, of Monmouth, III. 

Harvey Baldwin, father of Andrew G., was 
fourteen years old when his parents settled in 
Greenville. He remained there until 1S37, 
when he removed to a farm in Conesville, 
Schoharie County, where his death occurred on 
December 14, 1849. He was the father of 
five children, two of whom are living, namely : 
Andrew G., the subject of this sketch; and 



William L. Baldwin, a lawyer of ]5reakabeen 
and e.\-district attorney. The others were: 
Ann Jane, wife of the late Dr. E. R. Mackey, 
of Cat.skill, N.Y. ; John H., M.D., who died 
in Olive City, Ulster County, N.Y., in 1889; 
and James Harvey, who died at the age of ten 
years. The mother died September 7, 1857. 

Andrew G. Baldwin acquired his education 
in the schools of Greenville and Cones\'ille. 
He aided in carrying on the home farm until 
his father's death, and continued to reside in 
Conesville for five or si.\ years afterward. 
Coming to (lilboa in 1855, he was engaged in 
mercantile pursuits until 1861, when he pur- 
chased a farm, on which he lived about three 
years. Eor the past thirty-four years he has 
occupied a residence in the village, but still 
manages his agricultural property, which con- 
sists of two farms, one containing one hundred 
and ninety-seven acres and the other one hun- 
dred and twenty-three acres. With the aid of 
hired assistants he carries on general farming 
and dairying. He has dealt somewhat exten- 
sively in cattle, and at one time handled Ca- 
nadian horses. 

Eor more than thirty years Mr. Baldwin has 
served as a Justice of the Peace, and in that 
capacity he transacts most of the minor legal 
business in this vicinity. During his four 
years upon the Board of Supervisors he was 
chairman of the legislation and printing com- 
mittees, and was a member of the committee 
on accounts of County Treasurer. He has 
also held other offices. He was always 
strongly opposed to slavery. His first Presi- 
dential vote was cast for the Whig candidate in 



54 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



1852. His allegiance to the Reiniblican party 
dates from its foimatimi, when he assisted in 
perfecting the local organization. He has 
served upon various committees, and has 
missed but one town election since liecoming 
a voter. 

Mr. Baldwin married Charlotte V.. Stryker, 
daughter of Peter B. .Str)ker, who came with 
his paients fiom New Jersex- in I7<S5, the 
Stryker family being the very first to settle 
in this section. Mr.s. Baldwin's grandfather 
came from Holland. Her father was quite 
active in public affairs, and prominently 
iilentified with the Dutch Reformed church. 
Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin have had five children, 
namely: Carrie E. , who marrietl William lla- 
garton, M.D. , for twenty-four years a well- 
known ]ihysician of Gilboa; Minnie K., who 
married Henry Carpenter, and is no longer 
living; George S., i\I.D., who is now ]iractis- 
ing in New York City; Lewis C, a dentist, 
who als(j practises in the metropolis; and 
Grace A., who is studying music. 

Mr. Baldwin joined the Dutch Reformed 
chuicli in 1S65, and during his period of mem- 
bership lias served as Llder, Deacon, treasurer, 
and superintendent of the Sunda\-school. 



< • > > > 



'OilN II. (;i\.\\', pro]5rietor of a general 
store in 'lannersville, Greene Coimtv, 
N.V. , was born in Olive, Tlster 
County, this .State, January 13, 1853, son of 
Morgan ami Rachel ({■"reileigh) Gray. His 
grandfather, Martin Gray, was a lifelong resi- 



dent of Columbia County and a prosjjcrous 
farmer. 

Morgan Gray, father of John II., was born 
in Saratoga, and he there followed farming 
some years. He later came to Greene County, 
and remained a short time, then went to Olive 
in Ulster County, and iu 1 868 settled u])on a 
farm in Saugerties, where he is still residing. 
He is now seventy-five years old, but |)ossesses 
the activity of a much younger man. He is 
a member of the Dtitch Reformed church. 
His wife, Rachel, was born in Saugerties, 
daughter of Samuel Freileigh, a prosperous 
farmer of that locality. .She died at the age 
of fifty-si.\, having been the mother of seven 
children, of whom si.\ are living; namely, 
Samuel M., John H., Carrie, Mary, Abbie, 
and Charles. Carrie married Daniel York, 
Mary married Orville Smith, and Abbie is the 
wife of Frank .Smith. 

John II. Gray was educated in the common 
schools. He assisted his father on the farm 
until he was thirty-one years old, when he pur- 
chasetl the general store conducted up to that 
time by his brother Samuel !\L, and, adding 
other goods, carried on the business for four 
years. .Selling out to his brother-in-law, he 
came in i8go to Tannersville, and |Hirchasing 
land in the centre of the town, on the west side 
of Hunter Turnpike, erected his present store, 
in which he has carried on a profitable business 
ever since. The store is si.xty by one Inuulred 
feet, and two stories high, the upper floor 
being used for storage purposes. He carries 
a large and varied stock, including drv and 
fancy goods, boots and shoes, ha}' and grain. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



55 



paints and oils, groceries, hardware, house- 
furnishing goods, carpets, crockery, harnesses, 
robes, all kinds of patent medicines, wines, 
liquors, cigars, and tobaccn. He also has a 
niillinerv department. Reopens in April and 
closes Januar)- i. With the aid of twenty-one 
employees, he transacts a large business, sup- 
plying all of the hotels and park resorts in this 
locality. He buys by the carload, and the 
character of his trade demands the handling 
of the finest qualit}' of foreign and domestic 
goods. In connection with his store he carries 
on a well-equipped li\'er\' stable, keeping an 
average of thirty horses. 

In 1882 Mr. Gray married Jennie Carnright, 
a native of Ouarr}ville, Ulster County, daugh- 
ter of Wynkoop and Abbie (Freileigh) Carn- 
right. Her father was born in West Hadlcy, 
Ulster County. He moved from there to 
Ouarryville and later to Malden-on-the-Hud- 
son, where he has resided for the past twenty- 
five years and is general overseer on the stone 
cJDck. Her mother also was born in Ouarry- 
ville. .She was a daughter of .Samuel P. Frei- 
leigh, a farmer of that town, who was of Dutch 
descent. Mrs. Carnright, who is no longer liv- 
ing, was the mother of two children : Jennie, 
who is now Mrs. Gray ; and Carrie, who married 
James Hommul. Having a good common- 
school education antl [lossessing excellent busi- 
ness ability, Mrs. Gray is a valuable assistant 
to her husband, and has a general supervision 
of the store. She attends to most of the buy- 
ing, and gives her particular attention to the 
niilliner)- department, which is well stocked 
with seasonable goods. Mr. and Mrs. Gray 



have one daughter, Maud S. , aged fourteen. 
She is attending the academy in Kingston, and 
makes a siiecialty of music. 

Mr. Gray is a Democrat in pf)litics. He is 
a great lover of horses, and keeps a number of 
speedy animals, and Mrs. Gray is als(j fond of 
driving. 




RCHir.ALD TINNING, one of the 
leading farmers of I'rincetown, N.Y., 
was born in Glen, Montgomery 
County, this State, August 6, 1824, son of 
James and Hannah (Bradt) Tinning. The 
father was born in Scotland in 1785, and in 
early life he followed the useful calling of a 
school teacher. He later kept a store on the 
Iirie Canal, and in 1840 he settled in I'atter- 
sonville, where he ran a general store in con- 
nection with farming for eleven years. He 
then moved to Florida, N.Y. , where he spent 
the rest of his life, and died in 1868. 
I'oliticall)', he acted in his later years with 
the Republican part)-, and in his religious 
belief he was a Presbyterian. Mrs. Hannah 
Bradt Tinning, his wife, who was born 
in Glen in 1795, and died in 1838, was the 
mother of six children, three of whom are 
living, namely: Archibald, the subject of 
this sketch; Susan, who is now Mrs. Dougal, 
of Glenville; and Jane, who resides in Monte- 
rey, Cal. The others were: Catharine, who 
became Mrs. Dorman ; Margaret, who became 
Mrs. I5rownell; and Joseph Tinning. The 
mother died in I 838. 

Archibald Tinning was reared and educated 



56 



BIOGRAPH ICAL REVIEW 



in Mi)ntg()mcrv County. He beg:in life as a 
clfik in his fatlicr's stoic, and later engaged 
in mercantile business on liis dwn account. 
He became a property holder in Sclienectad\' 
Count)- in 1840, purchased his present farm in 
I'rincetown in 1849, and has resided here since 
I.S50. He now owns ahnut three hundred 
acres, which he nses for general farming and 
pasturage. He raises large and superior crops, 
and realizes good financial results. He keeps 
from twenty to thirt)' head of fine cattle, also 
raises shee|), and his stable contains some ex- 
cellent horses. 

In iS4cS Mr. Tinning married Sarah Mc- 
Gec, who was born in New York City, ilaugh- 
ter of William and Maria (W'east) McGee, 
who came to reside in I'rincetown several 
years ])riiir to licr nuirriage. .She is the 
mother of five children ; namel)', James, Will- 
iam, l-'rances, Maria, anil Martha. Mr. and 
Mrs. Tinning have eight grandchildren. 

Having acquired a comijctenc}', Mr. Tin- 
ning has practically retired from active labor, 
and will heiicefiirward eiijo)' a well-earned rest 
at his comfortable hiimc. In politics he acts 
with the Republican jjarty. He and Mrs. 
Tinning are members of the Dutch Reformed 
clnnch. 

Of late years Mr. Tinning has found the 
winters too severe, and he and Mrs. Tinning 
have made several journeys to Califnrnia to 
enjoy that delightful climate, and visit friends 
and relatives, making his headquarters with his 
son William, who is a successful lawyer. He 
has visited the \'osemite and other natiual 
wonders of the .State, al.so taking great interest 



in the sugar beet factories and other great in- 
dustries and im])rovements that are being car- 
ried on. 




RANK X. STRATH, the founder and 
s manager of the telegraph line ;ind bus- 
iness in Middleburg, N.Y. , is of German birth 
and parentage. He was born in Altheim 
Oberamt Horb, W'urtemberg, on June 1, 1847, 
son of Michael and Wallpurga Noll (\'on lliirr- 
linger) Straub. His father, who was born in 
W'urtemberg, of an ancient and honored famil)', 
came to this country in 1851. 

In the Fatherland Michael Stranb had been 
a farmer and the nwner of a large \ineyard, 
where he manufactureil wine on ijuitean exten- 
sive scale. He was a man of nute in his na- 
tive ])lace, and esteemed by all whd knew him. 
After coming here, he settled in Williamsbui'g, 
on tlie outskirts of Brooklyn, where he ke|)t a 



hotel until 186; 



His wife, who was one of 



twins, was born in 1816, and died un June 28, 
1852, not long after her arrixal in America. 
Both parents were members of the Geinian 
Catholic church. Of their fi\e children one, 
Rosa, is deceasetl. Those living are: John; 
Carl A., who has been for thirty-two years in 
the regular army; Marie S. ; antl I-'rank X., of 
Middleburg, whose personal histor)- is given 
below. 

Frank Straub received his education in a 
German school in Hrooklyn, N. \'. He 
learned the machinist's trade in that cit}'. 
Later he joined the I'nion army and was 
stationed at b'ort Schuyler untler (ieneral 




FRANK X. STKAL'B anu (.kaxd-haiciukk, MILDRED WELLS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



59 



Schoficld. At the close of the war he learned 
the Ixirber's trade in New York City, ami 
there worked at it for some years. Comin"' to 
Middicbiirg in 1868, he opened a barber shop 
here, and has since been in active business in 
this town. He has been interested in every 
important movement which has touched closely 
the welfare or progress of the town tluring 
the last tliirt)- years. 

The fire department, which is considered 
one of the best volunteer organizations in the 
State, owes him a s|U'cial debt of gratitude. 
It was started on Decemlier 31, 1887, by a vote 
of the village trustees. A commodious brick 
engine-house was built at a cost of two thou- 
sand dollars, and a steamer and a hook and 
ladder company formed. Mr. Straub raised 
fifteen hundred dollars for the hook and ladder 
company, and made a personal contribution of 
one hundred dollars toward the steamer. He 
was foreman of the old Eagle engine, and was 
foreman of the hook and ladder comiiany under 
the new organization. He has always since 
been connected with the tire department, and 
takes an active interest in all matters connected 
with it. He was also a jiioneer mover in be- 
half of the water company, and together with 
Mr. James C. Borst laid the first line of pipe 
on October 26, 1894. He assisted in survey- 
ing and in making maps at the time the vil- 
lage was incorporated. I<"or tweh'e years he 
had control of the teleiihone and of the local 
office of the United States Signal Ser\-ice. 
The telegraph line, which he manages and op- 
erates, was built in June, 1889. This is pat- 
ronized b}' all the leading business men in 



Mitldlebnrg, and is now regarded as an indis- 
pensable element in the transaction of daily 
business. 

Mr. .Straub was married in 1870 to Emma- 
rette K. Gernse\-, daughter of Montreville 
Gernsey, of this place. She was born in Mid- 
dleburg. Her father is a native of this 
count}', and her mother, whose maiden name 
was Alida Hecker, was a native of Breakabeen. 
Mrs. Gernsey died at the age of thirty-six, 
having been the mother of nine children. Of 
these the following-named six are living: Mrs. 
Straub, Julia, Edith, Rosa, Roxy, and Lett. 
Mr. and Mrs. Straub are the parents of three 
children — Inez, Charles A., and Arthur E. 
The first of these is the wife of Erank Wells, 
a well-known druggist of Middlebuig, and is 
the mother of one child, Mildred. Charles 
A., who is a graduate of the LTnion College of 
I^harmacy, is a druggist in Troy. Arthur is a 
baker in Albany. 

Mr. Straub is a communicant of the Episco- 
pal church and a vestryman. He was con- 
firmed in St. Luke's (.'hurch, Middlehurg, in 
1869, by the Right Rev. William C. Doane. 
All the members of his family were baptized 
in the Episcopal faith. In 1 88(1 Mr. Straub 
made a trip to liurope and visited his birth- 
place, where he was accorded a most generous 
reception. 

Mr. .Straub is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and 
a member of the Columbian Literar)' Society 
and of other fraternal organizations. The fol- 
lowing record is of interest in this connection : 

He was elected Quartermaster Sergeant of 
Steuben Zouaves, Twenty-fifth Regiment, Com- 



6o 



lUOCRArHKAL REVIEW 



pany I, in 1865; joined Good Tcmiilnrs, 
Albany, in 1S67; raised to tiie sublime degree 
of Master Mason at Middlebiirg Lodge, No. 
662, F. & A. M., ill 1877; secretary of same 
lodge from 1S81 to 1S86; trustee of lodge from 
1896 to 1901 ; elected to membersbip of La 
Bastille Lodge in 1882, and elected secrctar\- 
of La Bastille Lodge in 1885; reorganized 
Eagle Engine Company and elected foreman 
of same in 1884; organized Scribner Hook 
and Ladder Compan\- in 18S8, and elected 
foreman of Scribner lluoU and Ladder Com- 
pany for two years; elected assistant chief 
of Middleburg Fire Department, and elected 
member of Oncongena Tribe, No. 242, Im- 
proved Order of Red Men, i8g8; elected mem- 
ber of Middleburg luicampment, No. 129, 
1894; a]i|iointed under Governor Morton No- 
tary Public, 1895 to 1901; elected Trustee 
and Collet'tor of \-illageof Middleluug, 1897. 




ll.AKLH.S K. NICHOLS, a prominent 
j; law\er and c.\-.Su|)ervisor of Jefferson, 
.Schoharie C_"ount)', was born in this 
town. May 2, 1862, son of Hiram O. and Eliz- 
abeth (Totten) Nichols. PI is great-grand- 
father, ]'>.ra Nichols, who was a pioneer in 
Delaware County, went there from Danijury, 
Conn., when the grandfathei', Daniel Nichols, 
was eight years old. The latter became a 
prosjjcrous farmer in Harpersfield. He had a 
family of nine children, namely: Laura; 
Fann\-; .Sally; Daniel .S. ; Ezra; Betse\', who 
became Mrs. 15ecker Clernen ; Whitman; 
Hannah; and Hiram O., above named. 



Hiram O. Nichols, father of Charles I-'., 
formerly carried on mercantile business in con- 
nection with farming. He is now retired. 
His wife, Elizabeth, is a daughter of John and 

. Amanda (Davis) Totten, of Harpersfield. 
The\' have had three children: Charles E., the 
subject of this sketch; Orson, who died at the 
age of twenty-six years ; and Rollo, who is a 
prosperous dairy farmer in Harpersfield, is an 
influential member of the Republica.i part)-, 
and served as a Justice of the Peace. 

, Charles K. Nichols was graduated from the 
Delaware Literary Institute, I'ranklin, in 
1882, and for a time attended Hamilton Col- 
lege. His law studies were completed in 
Schoharie, and, having been admitted to the 
bar in 1885, he in August of the following 
year ojiened an office in Jefferson. The skil- 
ful and energetic handling of some of his first 
important cases was the means of gaining a 
numerous and profitable clientage, and he has 
become a w'ell-known practitioner before the 
courts of Otsego, Delaware, Greene, Lister, 
Albaii\', and .Scholiarie Counties. He has 
figured prominently in several liotlv contested 
suits, one of which, an action brought by 
certain parties for the reeoverv of ta.xes, neces- 
sarily aroused the interest of the general pub- 
lic; and his able management of another 
notable case, which hati its origin in a politi- 
cal dispute, resulted in a \ictory for the local 
Republican organization. .As one of the most 
able and active supporters of that party he has 
rendered valuable committee service, has been 
a delegate to various conventions, including 
the one which nominated ( iovernor Black, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



was a candidate for District Attorney in 1888. 
While holding the office of Supervisor in 1892- 
93, he was chosen chairman of the equaliza- 
tion committee and a member of the com- 
mittee that erected the new almshouse, was 
instrumental in securing an appropriation for the 
repair of the fort, and rooms of the Historical 
Society at Schoharie. He has held other posi- 
tions of trust. 

Mr. Nichols married Hattie A. Hubbell, 
daughter of Dr. Richtmeyer Hubbell, of Jeffer- 
son. They have two children — Grace A. and 
Charles E., Jr. 

Mr. Nicliols is a member of the Delta Kappa 
Epsilon Fraternity of Hamilton College, and 
has reached an advanced degree in the Masonic 
order, being a Past Master of the lilue Eodge, 
and the only resident of this town who belongs 
to the Commandery and the Mystic Shrine. 
His lucrative practice has enabled him to 
amass a competenc)' ; and besides holding con- 
siderable stock in the water compan}', of 
which he is a director, he owns some valuable 
real estate, including agricultural property and 
village lots. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



WILLIAM A. VVASSON, M.D., a 
leading ph\'sician of Greenville, 
N.\'., was born in 1852 in Hamburg, Erie 
County, this State. He is the only son of 
Horace and .Susan E. (Oberholser) Wasson. 
His grandfather, John Wasson, was one of the 
pioneers of Hamburg, coming to that place, 



which lay in the uUl Holland patent, in 1800, 
at the age of nineteen. There he worked at 
farming during the remainder of his life, and 
on the homestead the succeeding generations 
of the family have been born. He serveil dur- 
ing the War of 1S12 as a Captain in the mili- 
tia. He (.lied at the age of seventy-four. His 
wife, who died in middle life, was before her 
marriage a Miss Griffin. Of the five ciiildren 
born to her, two are living — Horace and 
Thomas, both of whom reside in Buffalo. 

Horace Wasson was born on the Wasson 
farm in Hamburg in 1S23, and was reared to 
farm life. In enrly manhood he showed 
marked administrati\-e ability, and this secured 
his appointment to the responsible position of 
superintendent of the Erie County Insane Asy- 
lum in Buffalo, the duties of which he dis- 
charged in a faithful and efficient manner for a 
quarter of a century. The institution was a 
large one, having about a hundred and fifty 
inmates. Mr. Wasson is one of the well- 
known citizens of Buffalo. He gave uji his 
position in the asylum in 1S73, and has since 
given his attention to his personal business 
interests in that city. His wife, who is of 
German stock, was born in Otsego County. 
Her father, John Oberholser, who reached tiie 
advanced age of ninety-four years, was a car- 
penter, and worked at his trade in Lancaster 
County when a young man. Later he re- 
moved to Otsego Count)-, and finall}- to Am- 
herst, Erie County, where he resided until his 
death. He bad a family of nine children. 
Mrs. Wasson is a memljer of the Church of the 
Disciples. She has two children : Dr. Will- 



62 



BIOGRArillCAI. RF.VIEW 



iam A. ; and Carrie, who is the wife (if VV. S. 
Turbett, of Buffalo. 

Dr. Wasson began earninLi; hi.s own living 
in his thirteenth year, when he went to work in 
a broker'.s office in Buffalo. He was there for 
a year, and then became an employee in the 
Erie County Savings Bank for another year. 
Following this he attended .St. Luke's School 
for a year, and then went to Rochester as gen- 
eral agent for the Knickerbocker Life Insur- 
ace Comjiany, this being in 1867 and 1868. 
Subsequently he was for a \-ear in college at 
Alliance, Ohio, and he then returned to 
Buffalo and became an assistant house physi- 
cian in the ICrie County Hospital. This 
position he held until 1872, when he was 
appointed house physician. While there he 
attended lectures at the Universit)- of Buffalo, 
and in 1S72 received his degree from that in- 
stitution. In 1873 he gave up his place at 
the hosjjital, antl opened an office in l^uffalo for 
the practice of medicine. There he remained 
until 1S80, when he came to Greenville. He 
has here a large general i)ractice, and is one of 
the most popular physicians of tlie town. His 
present residence, built fur him in 18S5, is one 
of the finest in the \illage lukI, indeed, one of 
the finest to be found in any of the villages in 
the county. 

'J'he Doctor was married in 1S75 to Carrie 
H. Woo.ster, a native of We.sterlo, daughter of 
Charles E. antl Melissa (Hitchcock) Wooster. 
Her parents had a family of four children. 
I""or many years they resided here, her father 
being one of the well-known fanners of the 
town. Dr. and Mrs. W'asson have an only 



daughter, Alice ^L, who is the wife of John 
H. .Sandford, a druggist in this town, and has 
a little daughter, Ruth. 

Dr. W'asson is a Democrat. IK' is warmly 
interested in all jnildic matters, but the de- 
mands of his profession [irexent him from tak- 
ing a \ery active part in political affairs. He 
is a member of the (Ireene County Medical 
Society, and while in Buffalo was a member of 
the Erie County Medical Society, and also of 
the Buffalo Medical Club, which has since 
developed into the Buffalo Academy of Medi- 
cine. The Doctor occasionally takes a rest 
from his professional labors b\' indulging his 
tastes as a sportsman. He is an excellent 
shot, and is the owner of several guns and of 
hunting dogs. He has been actively associ- 
ated with the Masonic organizatinn since 1877, 
when he joined the (Jueen City Lodge in 
Buffalo. Upon coniing here he received mem- 
bership in the James M. Austin Lodge, and of 
this he has been five years Master, and was 
two years District Deput\- in the old Lle\enth 
District under Crand .Master Will iam .She\er 
and Crand Master Burnham. He has tilled all 
the chairs in the lodge. It was at his instiga- 
tion that the Green\ille Royal Arch Chapter 
was organized, and he has been its High Priest 
from the start. He was a charter member of 
Jefferson Lodge, A. O. U. W., of l^uffalo, and 
while in that cit\' was examining physician of 
the lodge. He has hekl the office of trustee of 
the academ\-, and is at the jirescnt time a 
member of the l^oard of lulucation. He is 
also one of tiie three lire commissioners of the 
town and chief of the fue department. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



63 




I L LI AM T. WADDELL, Super- 
visor of the town of Duanesburg, 
N.Y. , was born where he now resides, son of 
William and Jane (McMillan) Waddell. His 
father, who is still li\ing, was born near Edin- 
burgh, Scotland, May 5, 1815, and his mother 
was born in Rotterdam, N.Y. , about the 
year 1 820. 

William Watldell emigrated when nineteen 
years old, first locating in Rotterdam, and for 
a time he followed the tailor's trade. Turning 
his attention to agriculture, he came to Duanes- 
burg over fifty years ago, and, purchasing the 
farm which his son is now cultivating, he 
tilled the soil successfully for the rest of his 
active period. Jane, his wife, became the 
mother of two sons, namely: James McMillan 
Waddell, a Civil War veteran, who is now a 
lumberman in the West; antl William T. , the 
subject of this sketch. Mrs. Jane M. Wad 
dell died in June, 1891. William Waddell 
has been a Republican in politics since the 
formation of the party, and in his religious be- 
lief he is a Presbyterian. 

William T. Waddell was educated in the 
common schools. From his youth upward he 
has made general farming his chief occupation, 
having assisted his father until taking the 
entire management of the property. Besides 
the original home farm of one hundred and six 
acres he owns ninety-five acres of adjoining 
land. He raises large and superior crops, and 
makes a specialty of breeding full-blooded 
Guernsey cattle and Shropshire sheep. His 
industry and progressive tendencies are dis- 
played to excellent advantage, and his farm. 



which is desirably located, contains good, sub- 
stantial buildings. 

In 1 87 1 Mr. Waddell married for his first 
wife Jennie W^ilkins. She died in 1S73, leav- 
ing one son, Samuel W. , who married Eliza- 
beth Mead, resides in this town, and has one 
son. In 1875 Mr. Waddell married for his 
second wife Louisa Schrade, a native of 
Duanesburg. By this union there is one son, 
Harry. 

Mr. Waddell has long been prominently 
identified with local public affairs, having 
served as Inspector of Elections several years. 
Overseer of the Poor two years, Justice of the 
Peace si.x years, while he is now serving his 
si.xth teim as Supervisor, being indorsed by 
both parties. In politics he is a Republican. 
He belongs to St. George Lodge, No. 6, F. & 
A. M., of Schenectady. He has held all of 
the important chairs of Bethany Lodge, No. 
524, I. O. O. F. , and is a Past Master and 
now secretary of F2mpire Grange, No. 784, 
Patrons of Husbandry. He attends the Epis- 
copal church. 



KEWIS SHELMANDINE, formerly a 
prosperous farmer and cattle dealer of 
^^^ Jefferson, was born in this town, July 
16, 181 I. He was a son of John and Lizzie 
(Washburn) Shelmandine and grandson of 
Richard Shelmandine an Englishman, who 
was one of the first settlers in Jefferson. 
Richard .Shelmandine married a Miss Kniskem, 
of Blenheim, and resided upon a faiin in this 
town for the rest of his life. He and his wife 



BIOGRAPHICAL RFA'IEW 



reared four sons and one dauj^hter; namely, 
Henry, Borant, ]?cnjamin, John, and Mary. 
Henry was a lifelong resident of Jefferson, 
liorant, who was in his younger days a hutiter, 
later went to Oil Creek, I'a. I?enjamin 
settled in Tcnnsylvania. Mary married Oba- 
diah Ruland. 

Jiihn .Shelmandine, father of Lewis, was 
born in Jefferson, and here .spent the active 
period of his life in tilling the soil. In iSoi 
he married Lizzie Washburn, of Danhury, 
Conn. She became the mother of nine chil- 
dren, namely: Kate, who is no longer living; 
Joseph, who died in Jefferson in iScSS; Re- 
becca, who died in Farmington, Pa. ; Rhcda, 
who died in Illinois; Lewis, the subject of 
this sketch; Daniel, who tlied in lilenheim ; 
Reuben, who died in Jefferson in 1X94; Sally, 
who died in New "N'ork ; and Charles, who died 
in Ohio. John Shelmandine died at the age 
of forty-seven years, leaving his wife with a 
large and dependent family. .She, however, 
was an e.\ceedingl\' capable woman, and suc- 
ceeded in bringing up her chihhen. She was 
a member of the Methodist Kpiscopal chnrch 
and a devout Christian. 

Lewis Shelmandine was but fourteen years 
old when his father's death maile it necessary 
for him to become self-supjiorting, and he 
began industrial life as a farm assistant. 
While still a young man he engaged in farm- 
ing on his own account, and shortly after his 
marriage he returned to the homestead farm. 
1 1 is energy and thrift soon ])laced him among 
the leailing dairy farmers and cattle dealers of 
the coimty, his farm in the nieaiiwhilc luu'ing 



been increased from about one hundred to four 
hundred acres. He raised, bought, and sold 
live stock, took many jirizes at fairs, jnuxhased 
premium cattle, which he scdd at a ])rofit, and 
became widely known as an excellent authority 
in all matters relating to the li\'e-stock busi- 
ness. He was a progressive as well as an 
industrious man, and quick to apjireciate every 
improvement in agricultural machinery, being 
the first farmer in Schoharie Count)' to pur- 
chase a mowing machine. In 1856 he built a 
new farm residence, and in 1S71 he erected a 
handsome house in the village, where his last 
days were sj^ent. 

On March 6, 1834, Mr. Shelmandine was 
joined in marriage with Harriet Pitcher, who 
was born in the town of .Summit, I'"ebruar\- 5, 
I Si 3, a daughter of Horace Pitcher. Plight 
children were the fruit of their union ; nameh', 
Charles, lilizabeth, Phoebe A., Catharine, 
Sarah M., Mary, Lmeline, and Rominda. 
Charles married Lydia Prockway, and resides 
in Lminence, N. Y. Elizabeth is the wife of 
P'rank Hannay, of PIminence. Sarah M., who 
married David (]. Proper, of -Summit, died 
I-"ebruary 28, 1870. Mary first married Will- 
iam L. Proper, who died lea\ing one son, 
Lewis. -She afterward marrietl David S. 
Palmer, a resident of Jefferson. P-meline nr.ir- 
ried T. O. lUirnett, and resides in .Summit; 
and Rominda married P\ron pLuiiett, and 
resides in Cobleskill. Charles and Llizabcth 
were formerh- schotd teachers. .Ml the chil- 
dren united with the Methodist P^dscopal 
chinch. 

Jn ])olitics Mr. .Shelmandine wen! from the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



6S 



Whig party to the Democratic party, became 
a Republican at the breaking out of the Civil 
War, and in his last days joined the party of 
Prohibition. He assisted in building the 
Methodist church at East Jefferson, of which 
he was for some years a steward and trustee. 
Benevolence was one of his leading traits, and 
he relieved the suffering of the poor with a 
willingness free from ostentation. He died 
March 5, 1889, surviving his wife some nine- 
teen years, her death having occurred February 
23, 1870. Mrs. Shelmandine, like her hus- 
band, was an earnest member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and both were mourned as a 
severe loss to the community. 




'ENRY F. OEMSTEAD, Catskill 
agent of the Greene County Bible 
Depository and a retired agent of 
the American Express Company, was born in 
Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Conn., Novem- 
ber 22, 181 3, son of Nathan and Martha 
(Watrous) Olmstead. His parents were both 
natives of that town, and his paternal grand- 
father, Jared Olmstead, followed farming there 
as long as he lived. Nathan Olmstead was a 
carpenter by trade, and besides following this 
mechanical calling he taught school many 
years. His death occurred in Ridgefield at the 
age of fifty-seven. He was a member of the 
Congregational church. His wife, Martha, 
who was a daughter of John Watrous, a farmer, 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. She died at thiit}'-four years of age, 
havinir been the mother of seven children. 



Henry 1". Olmstead is now the only survivor 
of his father's family. In his boyhood he at- 
tended the common schools of Ridgefield, and 
subsequently, both jirior to and after comjjlet- 
ing a course at Hilton Academy, he taught 
school in Norwalk. Relinquishing educational 
work, he went to Hudson, N.Y. , to learn the 
trade of a hatter, and worked as a journeyman 
there two years. In 1842 he came to Catskill, 
where he continued his trade on his own ac- 
count for two years, and opening a retail hat 
store continued it for a period of nearly 
twenty-five years, during the latter ]iart of the 
time occupying the building in which he ncjvv 
has an office. For fifteen years, beginning in 
185 I, he conducted in addition to the other the 
business of the local agency for the American 
Express Company. In 1 886 the express busi- 
ness had become so developed in importance 
that he disposed of his hat business. He con- 
tinued to represent the company until Decem- 
ber, 1880, when failing health compelled him 
to relinquish the arduous duties of his posi- 
tion. As a reward for his long and faithful 
service the company placed him on their emer- 
itus list, retiring him upon half-pay. Since 
1 88 1 he has transacted a real estate business, 
has been the local agent for foreign steamship 
lines, has looked after the Clark estate, and 
for the past five years has been the Catskill 
agent for the Greene County Bible Depository. 
In politics he was originally a Whig, and, fa- 
voring the principles of the Republican move- 
ment, he was instrumental in organizing that 
party in this locality. He was Civil Justice 
for sixteen years, and three years Police Justice, 



66 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and was noted for the impartial manner in 
vviiich he dis])osed cjf all cases coming inuler 
his jiH'isdiction. 

In 1844 Mr. Olpistead was united in mar- 
riage with Lydia H. Utley, daughter of Ralph 
and Sarah (Huntington) Utley. He has had 
two children, namely: a daughter, Mary How- 
ard Olmsteacl, who is organist of the Presbyte- 
rian cluH'ch, and who teaches music; and a 
son, Henry F. , who died aged four }ears. 

Mr. Olmstead was formerly a member of 
the Sons of Temperance. For many years he 
has been an Elder of the Presbyterian church. 
He is a ])crnianent Deacon, and was superin- 
tendent of the Sunda\--school for nearly twenty 
years. He has outlived the majority of his 
business contemporaries, having particijjated 
in the development of Catskill from a small 
hamlet to its ])re.sent size. He still has in his 
possession the old hand sled, built by him forty- 
ti\e years ago, upon which he transported the 
Aiuerican Express packages during the early 
days of that company's existence. 




I<:TER V. VAN EPS, a well-to-do 
farmer of Glenville, N.Y., was born 
in this town, No\ember 13, 1825, son 
of Albert and Anna (Swart) Van Eps. The 
family is of Dutch origin, as the name im- 
plies. Its immigrant progenitor was Dirk 
V^an Iqis, who settled in Schenectady County 
as early as 1662 or 1663. Johannes Dirksie 
Van liips, son of Dirk, and the next in line, 
was killed in the Indian massacre of 1690. 
He had four sons and four daughters; and 



Invert \'an I'^js, one of his scnis, great-grand- 
father of the subject of this sketch, was twice 
married, and bad fi\'e s(uis and five daughters. 
Johannes J5aphst \'an Ejjs, the grandfather, 
was born in Glenville, May 13, 1731. When 
a young man he located upon a tract of w'ild 
land, which he cleared into a good farm, and 
the rest of his active years were devoted to 
its cultivation. He luarried Anna X'edder on 
May 2, 1761, antl had a family of thirteen 
children. He died January 11, 1813. 

Albert Van V.ps, the father, was born in 
Glenville, May 16, 1785. .\ sturdy and a 
thrifty farmer, he made excellent use of the 
resources at his command; and he resided here 
until his death, which occurred March 17, 
1831. Politically, he acted with the Whig 
party. He was a member of the Keformed 
church. Mrs. Anna Swart Van I'"ps, his wife, 
was born in this town, Januar\' 16, 1790, and 
died July 22, 1841. They had nine children, 
four of whom aie li\-ing, namely: .Ann I'^liza, 
born September 16, 1819; Sarah, born Sep- 
tember 12, 1S23; Peter \'., the subject of this 
sketch; and Josiah, born February 11, 182S. 
The others were: John A., born December 14, 
181 3; Jacobus S., born December 24, 1815; 
Ilarmanus S., born August 13, 1817; Josias, 
born December 11, 1821, died in infancy; and 
Susanna, born June 18, 1830. 

Peter \'. Van Eps was educ:ited in the 
schools of iiis native town. While still a 
youth he began to assist in the work of the 
farm ; and, having succeeiled to the ownership 
of a portion ol the homestead property on com- 
inu of age, he has tilletl the soil with cner- 




I'ETER \-. \A.\ EPS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



69 



getic diligence and resulting prosperity for the 
past fifty years. His farm is situated in the 
fertile valley of the Mohawk, not far from 
Hoffman's I'Y'rry, and in the immediate vicin- 
ity of the spot where his ancestrn- erected a 
primitive abode in the pioneer days. The 
region abounds in charming natural scenery, 
including Wolf Hollow; and the traveller who 
goes out of his way to ride through this pictur- 
esque ravine is amply paid for his pains. The 
cries of the wild beasts heard by the early set- 
tlers have given way to the more welcome 
sounds of implements of industry, and the 
valley is now dotted on either side witli well- 
kept farm-houses. 

On June 3, 1851, Mr. Van Eps was united 
in marriage with Mary Ann Davenport, who 
was born in Troy, N.Y. , March 23, 1828, 
daughter of David Davenport. Mrs. Van Eps 
is the mother of three sons, of whom the fol- 
lowing is a brief record: Jewett Edwin, born 
December 25, 1853, married Mary Conda, and 
is now cashier of the First National Ixmk, 
Schenectady; Da\'id Augustus, a prosperous 
farmer of Glenville, born September 15, 1854, 
married Annie R. Van Loan, and has two 
children — Jewett E. and Helen M. ; and 
Frank Stanley Van Eps, born July 4, 1859, 
married Marion Hosworth, and is now a Chris- 
tian Science healer in Chicago. 

Owning one of the oldest farms in Glen- 
ville, Mr. Van Eps keeps up with the times in 
the way of improvements, and occupies a hand- 
some modern residence. In politics he is a 
Republican. He is esteemed both for his 
manly characteristics and as a representative 



of one of the most highly reputable families 
in this section of the county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Van Eps are members of the Reformed church, 
and are socially prominent. 



^ICHOLAS BRADT, a prominent resi- 
dent and representative of one of the 
oldest families of VVoestina (Rotter- 
dam Junction), N.Y., was born in this town, 
September 14, 1824, son of Abram N. and 
Maria (Vedder) Bradt. He is a descendant of 
Arent Andriese Bratt, or Brat, the first of the 
family to settle in Schenectady County, who 
died soon after his arrival here in 1662. 
He married Catajyntie De Vos, daughter of 
Andries De Vos, who was Deputy Director of 
Rensselaerwych. The first ancestor to locate 
in Rotterdam was Abram A. Bradt, who was 
an industrious farmer, and who died at Woes- 
tina. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah 
Van Patten. Nicholas A. Bradt, the grand- 
father of the subject of this biography, was 
born in Rotterdam, N. Y., August 15, 1773. 
He was in his younger days a blacksmith, but 
later turned his attention to farming, which 
he followed energetically for the rest of his 
active years. He was at one time Alderman 
from the Third Ward of Schenectady, Albany 
County, and also held minor offices. In poli- 
tics he was a Jeft'ersonian Democrat. He died 
July 9, 1850. He married Margaret Mabee, 
who was born in Rotterdam in 1776, and died 
December 13, 1S50. They were members of 
the Dutch Reformed church, and the grand- 
father was an Elder for more than twenty years. 



7° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Abram N. Bradt, the father above named, 
was born in W'oestiiia, August 22, 1/93- He 
was an able farmer and a leading citizen, serv- 
ing as Supervisor in 1846 and filling other 
town offices. In politics he voted with the 
Democratic party. He was an active member 
and an Klder of the Reformed church. Maria, 
his wife, whom he married May 2, i8i<S, was 
born December 5, 1801. .She became the 
mother of seven children, three of whom are 
living, namely: Jemima, who married John \'. 
Van Patten, of Glenville; Nicholas, the sub- 
ject of this sketch; and Harman Bradt, who 
resides in Petersburg, \'a. The others were : 
Margaret, Simon, Sarah, and a child that died 
in infancy. The mother died May 12, 1833; 
and the father, who survived her many years, 
died November 5, 1878. 

Nicholas Bradt was educated in the district 
schools of W'oestina, and working with his 
father acquired a good knowledge of general 
farming. He has made agriculture a profitable 
emjjloyment, and since i860 has resided on the 
farm of one hundred acres which he is still 
carrying on witli energy. He also owns the 
homestead farm, which contains the same 
number of acres, and he ranks among the well- 
to-do residents of this section. 

On September 29, 1857, Mr. Bradt was 
united in marriage with Hester Bradt, who was 
ixirn in ivntlerdam, No\-cmber 13, 1834. Mrs. 
]?ra(lt became the mother of seven children, 
namely: Helen E., born I'^ebruary 15, 1862; 
Aaron I'rank, born June 29, 1865; Margaret, 
born October 13, 1869; P'lizabeth, born June 
17, 1872, now the wife of Martin 11. .Schcr- 



merhorn ; Simon \'. , l^orn January 29, 1875; 
Maria, who married Simon \'. \'eeder, and 
died at the age of twenty-one years; aiul 
Abram, who died at the age of twenty-four. 
Mrs. Bradt died May i, 1889. 

Mr. Bradt has been a Trustee of the town, 
was an Assessor for some time, and has ren- 
dered efficient services in other town offices. 
Politically, he is a Democrat. lie attends the 
Reformed church, and his children are mem- 
bers. 



^I'l.SON O. GRKKN, contractor and 
builder, of Taiiners\'ille, Greene 
County, N.Y., and a Civil War 
veteran, was born in Hunter, this county. May 
25, 1S44, son of Giles an<l .Sarah (W'arner) 
Green. His father was born in Hunter, May 
23, 1800, and his mother, who was of Dutch 
descent, was a native of Conesville, Schoharie 
County. His paternal grandfather, .Seth 
Green, who came from Connecticut, fountl his 
way here by the aid of marked trees, and was 
the third to settle where the \-illage (jf Hunter 
is now located. Taking up a ti;ict of land, he 
erected a log house and followed farming. He 
was quite prominent here in Iiis day, and served 
as Justice of the Peace. He died at the age 
of eighty-seven. He had a large family of 
children, si.\ of whom li\ed to be o\er eighty 
years old. 

Giles Green, father of Nelson O., obtained 
his education in tiie common schools, and in 
bis youth worked ui)on the home farm. Later 
he had one liundred and twenty-five acres of 
the homestead propert}', ujjon wliicii he erected 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



71 



a ilwelling and engaged in farming, becoming 
well-to do. Besides this [Mopeity he owned a 
number of houses in Hunter. In jiolitics he 
was a Democrat. He died at eighty-nine years 
of age. His wife, Sarah, died at the age of 
eighty-four. She was the mother of four 
children, three of whom are living; namely. 
Nelson O., Emma E. , and Gilbert. Emma 
E. Green is the widow of George Pollock, and 
Gilbert is a resident of this town. The ]3ar- 
ents were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

NeLson O. Green began his education in the 
common schools of Hunter. He resided at the 
parental home until he was thirteen years old, 
when he went to Romeo, Mich., twenty-eight 
miles from Detroit, where he remained two 
years, attending school and following various 
kinds of employment. Returning East, he en- 
listed in 1862 in the One Hundred and Twen- 
tieth New York Regiment, with which he 
served three years in the Civil War. He saw 
a great deal of active service, and was slightly- 
wounded. He participated in the battles of 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettys- 
burg — at the last-named place the regiment 
losing one thousand out of fifteen hundred men 
in a short time — the battles of Mine Run, 
Spottsylvania, Tolapotamie, Chickahominy, 
Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg, 
where on March 25, 1863, he was taken 
prisoner. He was confined in Libby Prison 
until paroled, when he rejnined his regiment 
in Washington. He was made Second Ser- 
geant, hut declined further promotion, and 
was mustered out at the close of the war. 



Upon his return he went to Saugerties, 
N. Y. , where he was engaged in farming for 
two years. Later he worked in the chair 
factory at Susquehanna, and followed this 
occupation for twelve years in different towns. 
Coming to Hunter in 1874, he was employed in 
the chair factory for four years, and then turned 
his attention to carjientering, doing a consider- 
able business in this line in towns along the 
Hudson for six years. When Onteora, Elka, 
and Twilight Parks were opened, he engaged in 
contracting for the building of cottages; and he 
has erected a number at each place, employing 
a large force of men. 

In 1874 Mr. Green was joined in marriage 
with Alice M. Lester, of Hunter. They have 
had four children — Jeanette, William, Robert, 
and Jasper. Jeanette, who is a graduate of the 
State Normal .School, is now engaged in teach- 
ing. Jasper died at the age of nineteen. 

Mr. Green is a Republican in politics, but 
has declined j^ublic office. Pie is a comrade of 
A. N. Baldwin Post, No. 263, G. A. R., of 
Hunter, and has ser\ed as color-bearer for seven 
years. 

f^^JKORGE LINTNER DANEORTH, 
\mJ_ one of the leading lawyers of Scho- 
harie County and a resident of Middleburg, 
was born here on July 19, 1844, son of Judge 
Peter and Aurelia (Lintner) Danforth. All 
the traditions of his family and the surround- 
ings of his youth lent their influence in 
preparing him for the legal profession. His 
grandfather, George Danforth, who dietl in the 
South, was a lawyer of pre-eminent abilit}'. 



^2 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and his father was jicrhaps the most eminent 
[jiactitioner of law tliat the county has pro- 
duced. His grandmother, whose maiden name 
was Cornelia Swart, was horn in Schoharie 
County of Dutch parentage. One of his 
uncles, General George E. Danforth, acquired 
a high reputation in puhlic affairs, and distin- 
guished himself as a brigade commander in the 
Civil War. 

IMr. Danforth 's father, Judge Peter S. Dan- 
forth, lived to the age of more than threescore 
antl tilteen years, and in his long and honor- 
able career filled many public positions. In 
1S72 he was m;ide Justice of the .Sujireme 
Court. He was a member of the Dutch Re- 
formed church. His wife was a member of 
the Lutheran church until her man iage, when 
she united with the Reformed church. Mrs. 
Danforth died at the age of seventy-one. .She 
was a daughter of the Rev. George A. Liiitner, 
D. D., who was for many \ears jiresident of the 
Lutheran .S\ni)d and for twent\--five years jias- 
tor of .St. Paul's Lutheran Chvuxh at Schoharie, 
N. Y. fie died at the age of seventy-five, leav- 
ing two children — Mrs. Danforth and Joseph 
Albert Lintner. The latter has been for many 
years entomologist for the .State of New York. 
Judge and Mrs. Dniforth had three children; 
namely, (ieorgc L. , Cornelia, and the Wnn. 
IClliot Danforth. Cornelia married Isaac \V. 
J'"erris, a son of Chancellor Isaac Ferris, of 
New \'ork University. 

Cjeorge L. Danforth, the subject of the 
present sketch, in his bo)'hootl attended the 
connnon scho(ds of Middleburg, a select 
school, and .Schoharie Academ\'; and later, 



after continuing his studies for a while under 
a jjrivate tutor, he entered Rutgers College, 
from which he was gradated in 1863. From 
his early years he had spent much time in his 
father's otlfice, and in realit\- he was in practice 
at the age of nineteen. At the age of twenty- 
one he was admitted to the bar, and since that 
time he has been in active practice. His 
clients C(jme from all jiarts of the .State, and 
he has practised in all the .Slate courts, in- 
cluding the United .States Circuit Court of this 
district. He is at the present time, with few 
exceptions, the oldest member of the bar in the 
county. He has been referee in many im])oi-- 
tant cases, and counsel in a large number of 
cases involving intricate points of law anil title 
to real estate, and trustee of estates in this and 
adjoining counties. For some time past he has 
been counsel in the celebrated case in the First 
Department known as the Coal Oil Johnny 
.Soa]) Case, a suit iiiv(d\'ing hundretls of thou- 
sands of dollars. Whether as counsel for 
prosecution or defence, he has met with remark- 
able success in winning legal contests for his 
clients. 

On December 15, i S69, Mr. Danforth was 
united in marriage with .\nita Wliitaker, a 
native of New York and daughter of George 
and Hannah (Daggett) Whitaker. Her pater- 
nal grandfather, the Re\'. Jonathan Whitaker, 
was a Unitarian clerg\'man, and preachetl 
mainl}' in Massachusetts, where he ilied at the 
age of si.xty. Among his sons were several 
clergymen, a judge who lesidetl in New Or- 
leans, and a well-known government official. 
Mrs. Danfoith's father was eiiLraiicd in mercan- 




""^i 



F. V. ISEARD. 



BIOGRAl^HICAL REVIEW 



75 



tile business, shipping and importing South 
American i^roducts. He sjient the greater part 
of his life in New York, but died in Massachu- 
setts at the age of fifty-four, at the home of a 
brother. His wife was the daughter of a 
wealthy ship captain and philanthropist of 
Edgartown, Mass. She died at the age of 
seventy-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Danforth 
have lost two children. They have one son 
living — Pierre W. Danforth, who is now 
studying law with his father, and has for some 
time been engaged in newspaper work. He is 
the youngest editor in the county, and now 
edits and publishes the Middleburg Puss, a 
six-column quarto, which is an enterprising 
weekly paper. 

Mr. Danforth and his family are members of 
the Dutch Reformed church, and Mr. Dan- 
forth has been an Elder in the church for some 
thirty years. He is warmly interested in 
Sunday-school work, and teaches the I^ible 
class; while his wife has a class of boys. For 
many years he has been sent as a delegate to 
the General Synod. He devotes much time to 
literary work, frequently delivering addresses 
and lectures and contributing articles to news- 
papers and periodicals. Of fine executi\'e 
ability, he readily manages the many interests 
which press upon his personal attention, and 
which would puzzle the average man to manage 
at all. He is a trustee of Rutgers College, 
and president of its alumni association, and is 
also president of the Schoharie County Histoii- 
cal Society, trustee of the Union Free School 
and Academy of Middleburg, director of the 
First National Bank, and treasurer of the 



Middleburg & Schoharie Railroad Company. 
Since the organization of the fire department, 
ten years ago, he has been its chief. He has 
given considerable attention to fraternal soci- 
eties, and is an active worker in both the 
Masonic and Odd P^ellows fraternities. 

Mr. Danforth's home is the spacious man- 
sion in the prettiest portion of the valley, 
where the Danforth family has lived and exer- 
cised hospitality for many years. 




RANKLIN PIERCE BEARD, M.D., 
s of Cobleskill, Schoharie County, well 
known as a skilful physician and surgeon and 
a large real estate owner, was born November 
29, 1S52, in Jefferson, N.V. , a son of [acob 
L. and Polly (Wilsey) Beard. He comes of 
pioneer ancestry, his great-grandfather Beard 
having been an original settler of that part of 
Schoharie County that was named, in his 
hoi]or, Beard's Hollow. There the Doctor's 
paternal grandfather, John Beard, a prosjierous 
farmer, spent his long life. 

Jacob L. Beard was born and educated at 
Beard's Hollow ; but when eighteen years old 
he left the ancestral farm and came to Warner- 
ville, this county, where he served an appren- 
ticeship at the wagon-maker's trade. After 
following this calling as a journeyman and 
also in business for himself for several years 
in that town, he remo\ed to Jefferson, and in 
1863 transferred his business and his residence 
to the neighboring x'illage of Summit, where 
he was engaged in farming for a quarter of a 
century. In iS8y he came to Cobleskill; and 



76 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



from thnt time until his cle:ith, in 1893, he 
resitled with his son, Dr. Heard He was a 
steadfast Democrat, and for a score of years 
served as Justice of the Peace. His wife, 
Polly W'ilscy, who was born in W'arnerville, 
W'as a (laughter of Colonel Wilsc)', an officer in 
the Revcjjutionar)' army. She bore her hus- 
b;uul seven children; namely, Da\id, Samuel, 
Rose, l-"ranklin Pierce, Marion, Adelle, and 
John. The mother died at the ai;c of sixty- 
ciji;ht years, in 18S1;. Poth parents were 
members of the Methodist M])iscoi)al church. 

Franklin P. Heard received a practical com- 
mon-school education, and in his early man- 
hood taught in a district school five terms. 
Leaving home then, he turned his attention to 
the study of medicine, having for his instruc- 
tors successively Dr. Cornell, of Richmond- 
ville; Dr. Spaulding, of Summit; and Dr. 
Wood, of Jefferson. He subsequently entered 
the Albany Medical College, from which he 
was graduated as a member of the class of 
1875. Heginning the practice of his profes- 
sion in Pmineiice, he continued there about 
two years. He then located in Summit, and 
for ten years ranked as the leading practitioner 
of that vicinity. Dr. l?eard came to Cobles- 
kill in 1886; anil here, also, his eminent skill 
an<l his close attention to his professional 
duties lias rankeil him the leading physician of 
the county, his opinions being largely sought 
after in consultaticms extending to adjoining 
counties. 

He is a mendier of the .Schohaiie Count)' 
Medical Society and of the Cobleskill Lodge, 
V. & A. M. He was a .Super\isor in Sunnnit 



in 1882, a Coroner in .Schoharie County nine 
years; and from October, 1895, imtil October, 
1897, he was examining surgeon of the Pen- 
sion Department. 

Dr. Beard is the proprietor of two fine farms 
in Richmondville, this count\', one in I^leu- 
heim, and one in .Sunnnit of ttvo hundred 
acres, and ninet\' acres of land in Cobleskill. 
The latter has been ])latted and divided into 
building lots, a street being laid out through 
one portion. He has likewise valuable building 
property in the village, incluiling lots on Llm 
Street, west of the Catholic church; and he 
owns a fine business block in Smnmit. 

In April, 1873, Dr. ]?eard married Miss .Alice 
D., daughter of John Chickering, of Summit, 
a well-known mechanic. Dr. and I\[rs. Heard 
ha\x' five children; nameh', G. Claude, John 
J., Leona, Mildred, and David. G. Claude, 
who married Lulie Kilts, is a successful agri- 
cultinist in Richmondville. John J., who w^as 
graduated from the Albany Medical School in 
1897, is a physician in Sharon Springs, N. Y. 




IRHY \\TLHER, an enterprising mer- 
lGi\ _ chant of Quaker Street, Duanes- 
burg, Schenectady County, N.Y., was born 
in this town, September 25, 1820, scm of 
Kirby and Mercy (Allen) Wilber. He at- 
tended school until fourteen years old, when 
he entered the employ of Job Cleveland as a 
store clerk, and remained with him two years. 
After a short time spent in a store at Sche- 
nectady he returned, and for the next three 
years worked for James K. O'Neil. In 1840 



BIOGRArHrCAL REVIEW 



77 



he went to Brainard Bridge, Rensselaer 
County, where he clerked in a general store 
conducted by Hastings & Smith, cloth manu- 
facturers, for eight years, at the end of which 
time he purchased the stock, and for the suc- 
ceeding five years carried on business in com- 
pany with his brother, E. G. Wilber. Selling 
out his interest in 1853, he returned once more 
to Duanesburg; and, associating himself with 
his brothers in a shoe manufactory in the lo- 
cality known as Quaker Street, he was for the 
next few years engaged in selling their prod- 
ucts on the road. This business was started 
in 184S by R. P. U. Wilber, who began mak- 
ing shoes for the retail trade; but five years 
later he established a manufactory to supply 
the wholesale dealers only, and continued in 
business until his death, which occurred in 
1854. The present store of Wilber & Co. 
was opened in i860, and carried on in connec- 
tion with the factory until 1S67, when the 
firm was dissolved. The business was con- 
ducted by Kirby, E. G., and Charles C. Wilber 
until 1S74, since which time Kirby and his son 
Charles C. have been sole proprietors of the 
m.ercantile establishment, consisting of a 
well-stocked general store having a large pat- 
ronage. The senior partner is one of the old- 
est business men of this section in point of 
exijerience, and through his ability, integrit)', 
and other commendable characteristics he has 
accpiired success. Aside from his mercantile 
business he deals quite extensively in real 
estate. His own residence is one of the hand- 
somest in town. 

Mr. Wilber contracted the first of his two 



marriages in 1843, with Lucy Ann Crego, of 
Chatham, Columbia County. She died in 
1877, and in 1880 he married Mrs. Phcebe J. 
Auchampaugh, horn Stevens, a nati\-e of 
Wright, Schoharie County. He is the father 
of five children, all by his first wife, namely: 
Ellen M., who married the Rev. Milton Tator, 
and died at the age of fifty-one years: ICmily 
W., wife of Arthur D. Mead, of Schoharie; 
Augusta A., wife of Charles E. Hoag, of 
Quaker Street; Adeline C, wife of Walter 
Briggs, of Schenectady; and Charles C. Wil- 
ber, who is in business with his father. Mr. 
Wilber has ten grandchildren. In politics he 
is a Democrat. He is a member of the Chris- 
tian church. 

Charles C. Wilber was born at Brainard's 
Bridge, May 30, 1847, and was educated in 
the schools of Duanesburg. Eike his father 
he entered mercantile pursuits when fourteen 
years old, and is an excellent business man. 
He acts with the Democratic party in politics, 
and served with ability as Postmaster for three 
years. On December 21, 1870, he married 
limily Moon, who was born in this town in 
Sejjtember, 1847, daughter of John and Emily 
Moon. She is the mother of one son, Aichie 
M. Wilber, who was born March 13, 1880. 




ALTON VAN LOAN, of Catskill, 
N. Y., publisher of the Catskill 
Mountain Guide, was born in New York City 
on January 8, 1834, son of Matthew D. and 
Julia A. (Thompson) Van Loan. His grand- 
father, Isaac Van Loan, a resident of Catskill, 



78 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



was a mason by trade, but was engaged for a 
long period as cai)tain of a jiassenger sloop 
plying between Catskill and New York. Cap- 
tain Van Loan died at the age of seventy-two. 
His wife, Jane Dies, who was born in Gilboa, 
died at the age of seventy-four. 

Mattiicw D. Van Loan was one of a family 
of four ehildren. He was reared in this town 
and ediieated in the common schools. in 1.S41 
he went to New Vork City and opened a da- 
guerreotype studio, being the first man in the 
United States to make a business of producing 
portraits iiy the new process. He continued 
taking pictures for ten years in New York, and 
from there went to I'biladtjlphia and later to 
Washington, engaging in the same business. 
Subse(|uently and up to the time of his death, 
in 1856, he was employed in the custom- 
liouse in San Francisco. Widely known as 
a dagucrreot}'pe artist both in this country and 
abroad, he took n".any prizes in American 
cities and was given special iionors in I'-ng- 
land. While in New York he had a revolving 
gallery in the Delmonico Building, the only 
one ever known. His wife, Julia, who died 
at the age of seventy-seven, bore him three 
ciiildren, two of whom are living. These are 
Walton and Spencer. The latter, who was a 
soldier in the Civil War, resides in this vil- 
lage. Hoth parents were communicants of the 
Episco]ial chureii, the father being one of the 
vestrymen. 

Walton Van Loan resided in Catskill until 
he was twelve years of age, and then went 
with his father to different cities. l'"or a time 
he attended llie public schools in IMiiladcl- 



phia. When about thirteen years of age he se- 
cured an appointment as page in the national 
House of Representatives. This position lie 
held from 1846 to 1850, receiving in payment 
sixty dollars per month in gold. In 1852 he 
went to Californa via Nicaragua to join his 
father, and paid bis own fare. He carried a 
letter of introduction from Daniel Webster to 
the custom-house officials in San h'rancisco, 
and shortly after his arrival was given a jjosi- 
tion in the custom-house. But be remained 
in it only a short time, leaving to go as clerk 
in a large book store. After four years in 
that business he returned to Catskill and 
bought out a store, which he conducted for the 
ne.xt twenty years, up to 1878. In that year 
he started his present business, which has 
proved to be most successful. He has issued 
about thirty-six thousand guide books and 
about fifty thousand maps of the Catskills, 
taking in the entire chain. He is conceded 
to be the most reliable authority on points 
concerning the geography and topography of 
the Catskills, and no man in the country can 
a]iproach him in extent of information con- 
cerning this beautiful region. He has been 
to the top of nearly every peak in the entire 
range. 

Mr. Van Loan was married in 1874 to Lucy 
Beach, a native oi Michigan. He has now 
lived in Catskill for forty-three years, and in 
his ])resent residence ever since 1862, when it 
was built. He is a member of St. Luke's 
Church, and has the unparalleled record of 
having been its treasurer for thirty years. 
His wife is also a member of the same church, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



79 



and both are active religious workers. Tlie 
society has just completed a stone edifice, 
which was opened on June 6, 1S99. This is 
said to be one of the most beautiful buiUlings 
to be found on the banks of the Hudson. 




'R1':DERICK LEROSS FRAZEE, the 
is editor and proprietor of the Jefferson 
Courier, Jefferson, N.Y., was born in the town 
of Gilboa, N.Y., June 24, 1872. His father, 
Charles Osborn P>azee, is a much respected 
and well-to-do farmer. 

Mr. Frazee traces his paternal ancestry back 
to Benoni Frazee, his great -great-grandfather, 
who was of Scotch descent, and who during 
the Revolutionary War was a resident of New 
Jersey and aided the patriot cause by hauling 
supplies for the American arm\'. ]3enoni 
Frazee lost his little property through the 
worthlessness of Continental money. With 
his wife and eight children, he migrated, about 
the year 1783. to Schoharie County, then 
almost an unbroken wilderness, and settled on 
a farm one mile from the present village of 
Gilboa. Very soon thereafter he died, leaving 
his widow and children to take care of them- 
selves. 

I5enjamin, the second son, who was born 
March 8, 1774, remained on the farm with his 
mother until he became a man. About the 
year 1797 he married Margaret Monfort, of 
Dutch lineage. Two years later he settled on 
the farm now known as the Frazee home- 
stead, at South Gilboa. He had five chil- 



dren, two sons and three daughters. He died 
August II, 1862, aged eighty-eight years. 

Hiram, the second son of Benjamin Frazee, 
was born November 19, 1804, and until his 
death, which occurred April 2, 1S50, he lived 
on the farm with his father. On l-'ebruary 
13) ^'^il^ Hiram Frazee married I'htebe H. 
Osborn, by whom he had five children, onl}' 
two of whom survived him. 

Charles Osboin, the father of the subject of 
this sketch and the eldest son of Hiram Fra- 
zee, was born on the ancestral farm, Ai^ril 27, 
1836. After the death of his grandfather he 
bought the place which is still his home. 
January 28, 1864, he married Phoebe A. 
Clark, a descendant of the Clark family of 
Blenheim. Five chiltiren were born of this 
union, but only two are now living, namely: 
Harriet Estelle, who is now the wife of John 
T. Shew, and lives at Harpersfield, where Mr. 
Shew is engaged in the mercantile business; 
and Frederick Leross, who is now, as above 
noted, in the newspaper business at Jefferson. 

Frederick Leross I-Vazee in his early years 
received a good common-school education, and, 
entering Stamford Seminary in the fall of 
1888, finished a college preparatory course of 
study there in 1891, receiving a regent's cer- 
tificate and a diploma, which graduated him 
from that school. In the fall of the same 
year he entered Lin ion College at Schcnectad)' 
N.Y. Here he pursued his studies for two 
years. 

In college Mr. Frazee was popular both in 
society and athletics, and stood high in his 
class. He was a member of his class foot-ball 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



team, and he belongs to the Greek letter soci- 
ety, which is one of the largest and most pros- 
perous college fraternities in tlie world. On 
leaving college he returned to his home at 
South Gilboa and soon after went to the State 
of Illinois. In 1893 he returned to his former 
home, where lie remained until February, 
1894, wiien he came to Jefferson and embarked 
in the neu'spa|ier business. 

Tiie place then supi)orted two newspajiers, 
the Conrur and the Schoharie County Clirou- 
itlc. The former, which was an old estab- 
lished journal, was then edited by George M. 
Proper, and the latter, fnuntled in 1891 by 
Albert C. Mayham and Charles H. Shutts, 
was the property of Mr. .Shutts, who has pur- 
chased Mr. Mayham's interest in the estab- 
lishment. Mr. Frazee purchased both of these 
newspaper plants, and, merging the Chronicle 
into the Conriii; enlarged the same. His ca- 
reer as a newspaper editor has been a success- 
ful one. He receives the hearty support of 
the business men of Jefferson, and a good pat- 
ronage from the people at large. He is 
not only a jileasing writer, but a practical 
printer as well, having learned the mechani- 
cal as well as tJie editorial part of newspaper 
work, so that he is familiar with all the de- 
tails of tiie business. He owns one of the 
best equipped country offices in the State. 

On July 16, 1895, Mr. P'razee assumed 
matrimonial responsibilities, being united in 
marriage with Miss Nellie Hubbell, a highly 
esteemed young lady of Ji-ffcrson, dau:;htcr of 
C. H. ilubi)cll. 

Mr. P'razee is a m.ember and an officer of 



Working Lodge, No. 554, P~. & A. M., and 
also a church member, belonging to the Dutch 
Reformed church at his former home. South 
Gilboa. In the sjiring of 1899 Mr. P" razee 
was elected Town Clerk of Jefferson for two 
years by a handsome majority. He is much 
interested in the welfare and development of 
his town, is a lo\'al Republican in politics, 
and an artlent worker for his party. He pos- 
sesses a genial disposition, is wide-awak<-' and 
enterprising, and never can do too much for a 
friend. 



'J^ACOJi L. KILTS, an energetic farmer 
of Carlisle, N.Y., was born in this 
town, September 2, 1846, son of Will- 
iam and Julia A. (Empie) Kilts. He repre- 
sents the fourth generation of his family in 
America, being a great-grandson of Peter 
Kilts, who came from Germany, and settled 
on a farm in Stone Arabia, now the town of 
Palatine, Montgomery County, N.Y. 

P'our of the sons of Peter Kilts located in 
Sharon, one of the number being John, the 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
John Kilts s]K'nt the active period ot his life 
in Sharon, and died at the age of eighty-seven 
years. He marrieil a Miss Smith, and his 
children were: William; Penjamin; Conrad; 
George; Kate, who rviarried Solomon PImpie; 
Margaret, who married David P2mpie; Susan, 
who married (lideon ]Cni[)ie; Sophia, who 
married P)anicl .Siiafer; and Magdalene, who 
married lui Pointer. Of tiiese the survivors 
are: Margaret, Susan, and .Sophia. All of 




CHARLES DICKINSON. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



83 



the grandfather's sons reared families. They 
were members of the Lutheran church. 

William Kilts, the father above named, 
was reared and educated in Sharon, his native 
town. He assisted in carrying on the home 
farm until after his marriage, when he moved 
to Carlisle and settled upon a farm of one 
hundred acres, known as the Hilsinger place, 
which is now owned by his son, Jacob L. He 
engaged in general farming and stocli-raising, 
made a specialty of hay and grain, and realized 
good financial returns as the result of his in- 
dustry. Politically, he acted with the Demo- 
cratic party. P"or years he was one of the 
main pillars of the Lutheran church, serving 
as Deacon and Elder, and frequently as a del- 
egate to the Synod. He was well informed, 
especially upon subjects relating to religion. 
William Kilts died November 20, 1S90, aged 
seventy-five years. Julia A. Empie Kilts, his 
wife, was a daughter of Adam Empie. They 
were the parents of ten children, three of 
whom are living, namely: Jacob L., the sub- 
ject of this sketch ; Wesley H.; and Cynthia 
A., wife of Charles J. Warner. The mother 
died in i88j. 

Jacob L. Kilts passed his boyhood and 
youth in attending the district school and 
assisting upon the home farm. When a 
young man he managed the property jointly 
with his brother Wesley, but later succeeded 
to its ownership. He has seventy acres under 
cultivation. Aside from producing hay and 
grain, he raises cattle and sheep, and has ac- 
quired a wide reputation as a stock dealer. 
He also deals largely in clover seeds, produc- 



ing an original variety which is cleansed by 
machinery, and whose superiority makes it 
eagerly sought for by the neighboring farmers. 

Mr. Kilts married Melvina Shafer, daugh- 
ter of Sylvester Shafer, and has four children ; 
namely, Beardsley W. , Bertha E., Avis M., 
and Aurie J. 

In politics Mr. Kilts is an earnest sup- 
porter of the Democratic party. He has fre- 
quently been solicited to accept nominations 
to town offices and to serve upon committees, 
but has always declined. He is a Deacon of 
the Lutheran church, is also a class leader, 
and prominenty identified with the Sunday- 
school. 




HARLES DICKINSON, M.D., who 

was for man)- years the leading 
physician in Seward valley, Scho- 
harie County, was born in Henrietta, Monroe 
County, N. Y., on May 31, 1833, son of 
Lyman and Harriet A. (Webster) Dickinson. 
He is a descendant of early colonists of New 
England. 

The first ancestor of this branch of the 
Dickinson family in America came from 
England, about 1640, and settled in the 
Connecticut valley. Dr. Dickinson's grand- 
father, James Dickinson, was born in Connect- 
icut. He came to this State shortly after the 
Revolution and settled in Canaan, Columbia 
County. Several years later he remmcd to a 
farm in Roseboom, Otsego County, and there 
remained until his death, at the age of 
seventy-seven. 



84 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Lyman Dickinson, son of James, was born 
in Canaan and one of a family of seven chil- 
dren. He li\ed with his |)arents until he was 
twenty-one years of age, when he went to 
Henrietta, where he engaged in mechanical 
work for a number of years, at the same 
time doing some farming. He then removed 
to Northern Indiana, but ten }ear.s later re- 
turned to Roseboom. Some years afterward 
he moved to Tioga valley, and, purchasing a 
farm, continued to reside there until his death, 
at the age of eighty-eight. He attended the 
Presbyterian church. His wife was the daugh- 
ter of Aaron Webster, and was born in Canaan, 
N. Y. She was of the seventh generation from 
the first representative of this branch of the 
Webster family in America. One of her an- 
cestors, John Webster, who settled in Hart- 
ford about 1636, was the fifth Governor of 
Connecticut, holding the office one year, 
1656-57. He afterward remo\ed to Hadley, 
Mass. Ik-r grandfather was one of the fa- 
vorite scouts of General Putnam during tlie 
war of the Revolution. Her father, who was 
born in Connecticut, removed to Canaan and 
later to Roseboom. His first wife died at the 
age of twenty-six, leaving only one child, 
Charles, now Dr. Dickinson. She was a 
birthright Quaker. His second wife, whose 
maiden name was Sarah Sutphen, had five 
children, two of whom arc li\ing, b)' name 
Orville and L)nian 1). She lived to the age 
of eighty. 

Charles Dickinson in his early years at- 
tended the common schools and later the 
academy at Cherry Valley. He began the 



stud)' of medicine with Dr. James H. Sutphen, 
of Seward, and subsequently took three courses 
of lectures at the Albany Medical College, 
from which he was graduated in i860. Return- 
ing then to Seward, he began the practice of 
his profession, arid remained until 1869, when 
he removed to Binghamton. At the end of a 
year and a half he came back to Seward, and has 
since made this the scene of his prf)fessional 
labors. He has now been longer in practice 
than any other physician in this section of the 
county. Dr. Dickinson is energetic and ]ier- 
sevcring in whatever he undertakes, and is 
able as a business man as well as skilful in 
his profession. During earh' and mitldlc life 
he had a large practice, and covered a wide 
circle in his ministrations; but in later years 
he has retired to a more limited field. An un- 
tiring student through all his careei', he has 
given attention, not sim])ly to medical subjects, 
but to science and liteiature in general. He 
has now and then lectured on some scientific 
or literary subject; and during the summer of 
1896, while he was making the tour of Kurope 
for pleasure and study, he wrote, by recpiest, a 
number of letters on his travels for the Cobles- 
kill Index. 

The Doctor has lived for twenty-.se\en years 
in his present house. He was married in 
1859 to Celia M. France, daughter of Gilbert 
G. France and one of a household group of 
seven children. Her father was a well-known 
farmer of this region, where the family has 
been settled ever since the Rex'olution. Mrs. 
Dickinson was a member of the Methodist 
church. She died at the age of thirty-eight, 



^^^MiGG^nKTH^ 



AL REVIEW 



8S 



leaviiii^- three childiteii ; namely, Everett M. , 
Mehille U., and Hame A. All of these are 
graduates of Cobleskill\Academy. Both sons 
are Knights Templar. Eyerett M. Dickinson 
has been for the last seven years a jeweller in 
North Adams, Mass., where he conducts a large 
business. He married Laura Mann, who died 
in 1894, and by whom he had two children — 
Angle and K\erett. In 1895 he married 
Louise Tower Wallace. She had one child — 
Gertrude Wallace. Melville D. Dickinson 
studied medicine with his father, and was 
graduated at Alban\' in 1890. He was also 
for two years a student at Cornell Univer- 
sity. He is now assistant surgeon of the Troy 
Hospital, and is physician to St. Vincent 
Orphan Asylum. He married Emma Cole, 
and has one child, Celia. Hattie Dickinson 
is the wife of Clarence H. Shafer, of Cobles- 
kill. Mr. Shafer is engaged in the jewelry 
business. 

Dr. Dickinson is a memljer of the Schoharie 
County Medical Society, has been its presi- 
dent, and has served as delegate to the State 
society. He has written and read before the 
society papers on a variety of medical subjects. 
Politically, the Doctor is a Democrat, and he 
has held a number of important offices in the 
town. As Justice of the Peace he has 
done a large amount of imjiortant business, 
and as railroad commissioner he has rendered 
valuable service. He was formerly a Free 
Mason at Cobleskill. For many years he has 
been a leading member of the Methodist 
church and for over thirty-five years a Sunday- 
school teacher. 



JSAAC SHOWERS, a retired civil engi- 
neer, was born in Hunter, August 27, 
1827, son of Japhet and Sylvia (Putts) 
Showers. His first American ancestor was 
an emigrant from Hollanil, who settled in New 
Jersey, where he spent the rest of his life, and 
was a farmer. The ne.xt in line, John 
Showers, probably came to America with his 
father. After residing in New Jersey for a 
time he settled on a farm in Albany, N.Y. , 
where he died at an advanced age. Michael 
Showers, son of John and grandfather of Isaac, 
was a native of Albany. He worked on a farm 
there until reaching his majority, when he 
came to Great Flats (now Lexington) and 
built a grist-mill, which he conducted a few- 
years. He then took up a large tract of moun- 
tain land in what is now Jewett, and resided 
there with his famil)'. He died in 1819, aged 
forty-nine years, lea\-ing a widow ant! ten chil- 
dren. His widow, who again married, dietl at 
the age of fifty-three years. 

Japhet Showers, above named, was hnrn in 
a log house on the home farm in Jewett, seven 
miles below where his son Isaac now lives, and 
always resided in that locality. He was a 
farmer, and fairly successful. In jjolitics he 
was a Democrat, and held some of the town 
offices. He died at the age of sevent)-. His 
wife, Syh'ia, was a daughter of Isaac Putts, a 
well-to-do farmer of I^e.xington. Her father 
was twice married. Pv his first wife he had 
fourteen children; and by his second wife, for- 
merly Mrs. Ruby Bellows, of Dover, N.J., 
widow with four children, he was the father of 
seven children. Isaac Putts and his second 



86 



lUOCRAPIIUAI. RF.VIEW 



wife both lived to be about ninety-two years 
old. Japhet and S\dvia (Butts) Showers had 
a family of eleven children, of whom four are 
living — Michael, Isaac, Louisa, and Caroline. 
Michael is married, and resides on an adjoin- 
ing farm, Louisa married ]5easley Teasler, 
and Caroline is the wife of George Renn. The 
mother dietl at the age of sevent)--onc. .She 
w-as a Methotlist in her religious belief. 

Isaac Showers at the age of eight years went 
to live at the home of a neighbor, with whom 
he remained five years, and he spent another 
year upon a farm in the vicinity. At the age 
of si.Nteen he went to Jewctt, and secured em- 
plovment for si.\ niontlis at seven dollars per 
month. He next worked in a saw-mill, where 
he received one hundred and twenty dollars a 
year for ten years, and saved seven hundred 
dollars of his earnings. After his marriage he 
located nil a farm adjuining his present home, 
whii'h is abciut one anil a half miles from the 
village of Tannersville, on the road to Jewett, 
first purchasing one hundred and twelve acres 
and later buying more lantl. He remained 
there until iSiji, and from 1846 to 1879 held 
the agency for the Hardingburgh Land Grant, 
Lot 25, consisting of twentj'-eight thousand 
acres, surveying and selling about twenty-one 
thousand acres during that time. In 1879 he 
purchased seven thousand acres lying in Ulster 
and Greene Counties, which he sur\-e\ed and 
laid out in faims. It was in a [loor contlition 
at the time he took i)ossession, but he imjiroved 
it to such an extent as to make it more desir- 
able, and now besides a large number of 
farms the district contains four parks — Santa 



Cruz, Tw'ilight, Sunset, and l{lka — compris- 
ing in all twelve hundred acres. In 1S57 he 
adoptetl the profession of civil engineering, 
and for the past forty years he has surveyed 
not only all the Hardingburgh patent, but a 
great many farms throughout this region. He 
has surveyed also land near the Hudson River 
in LUster Comity, and has completed much 
work for the great (piarries in that localit}'. 
He has also been called upon in many law- 
suits as an expert; and, although in 1895 he 
was compelled on account of ill health to relin- 
quish active work of this kind, his advice is 
still sought uiion man)' im[ioitant matters. In 
1890 he sold the farm of two lunuhecl and 
sixty-six acres adjoining his home jjroperty. 
He erected a new dwelling-house and other 
buildings upon his present farm, which con- 
tains seventy acres, usetl principal 1\- for dairy 
purposes. lie also owns three other farms and 
outhing land, amounting in all to one thou- 
sand acres, and is one of the largest resiiK'nt 
land-owners in the town. 

In 1854 Mr Showers was united in marriage 
with Merilla Loomis, daughter of Alvin J. 
and Harriet (Palmer) Loomis, of Windham. 
Her father, who was a butcher in that town, 
died at an advanced age; and her mother, who 
was a native of Ashland, died at the age of 
forty-nine. Mr. and Mrs. Loomis had eight 
children, of whom fi\e are living; namely, 
Addison, Merilla, Chloe, Lovisa, and Julia. 
Merilla is now Mrs. Showers, Chloe married 
Jonathan Traphagen, Lovisa is the wife of 
William Young, and Julia married George 
Goodrich. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Showers have 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



87 



had eight children. The four now living are: 
Cyrus, Emma, Henry W., and George H. 
Shyvvers. Cyrus is a civil engineer. A 
sketch of him appears elsewhere in the Re- 
view. I-imma married lulward Osborn, a 
blacksmith in California, and has five chil- 
dren. Henry \V. is attending the Albany 
Law Scht)ol, and George Harding Showers is 
a student at the Polytechnic Institute, Troy. 
The others were: Jennie, who married Ste- 
phen Viiiing, and died in California, leaving 
two daughters — Bertha and Mingie; Itlmer, 
who died at fourteen; Isaac, Jr., who died 
young; and Irving, who died at the age of four 
years. 

Mr. Showers is a Republican in politics, but 
has declined to serve in office. He was in 
1848 a member of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. He has been a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church for fifty-five years, 
a class leader forty-three years, and has also 
been connected with the Sunday-school as 
teacher and superintendent. He assisted in 
building the churches at Tannersville and Jew- 
ett, and contributes liberally toward the sup- 
port of both. 




ILLIAM KOHRING, of Glenville, 
e.\-chairman of the Board of Super- 
visors, was born upon the farm where he now 
resides, September 3, 1862, son of August and 
Elizabeth (Martin) Kohring. The parents, 
who were natives of Germany, came to Glen- 
ville about the year 1858, and settled upon a 
farm. August Kohring was a sturd)' and in- 



dustrious man, jjossessing the keen intelli- 
gence and ambition to advance which is charac- 
teristic of his race; and he was respected as 
a worthy, upright, and progressive citizen. 
When naturalized he embraced the principles 
of the Democratic party, but withdrew his 
allegiance on account of the slavery question, 
and thenceforward acted with the Republicans. 
In his religious belief he was a Methodist. 
August Kohring died July 7, 1897. His wife 
is still living. They reared two sons, namely: 
William, the subject of this .sketch; and 
George, who died in P^bruary, 1889, aged 
twenty-seven years. 

William Kohring began his education in the 
common schools and completed his studies with 
a two years' course at a commercial college in 
Schenectady. He has made agriculture his 
chief occupation, and is now the owner of the 
home farm of about fifty acres. He carries on 
general farming in an able and progressive 
manner, keeps some fine Jersey cattle, and is 
regarded as one of the leading farmers in this 
locality. In politics he is a Republican, and 
since reaching his majority he has taken a 
lively interest in local public affairs. He has 
served as a Justice of the Peace four years, and 
was Sujjervisor for the years 1896-97, being 
chairman of the board the last year. 

On March 18, 1891, Mr. Kohring was 
united in marriage with Lillie Muller, who 
was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., daughter of Ded- 
rich and Sophia Muller. Mrs. Kohring is 
the mother of one daughter, Lillie E., who 
was born December 5, 1S92. 

Mr. Kohring is well informed upon all the 



88 



BIOGRAI'lllCAL REVIEW 



important topics of the- day, and his jniblic 
services were characterized by an intelligent 
appreciation of the people's needs. He is a 
Master Mason, and belongs to St. George 
Lodge, No. 6, F. & A. M., of Schenectady. 
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 



M 



URYEA BEEKMAN, president of 
the First National Bank of Middle- 
burg, Schoharie County, N.Y., was 
born at Seward, this county, August 9, 1840, 
son of Nicholas and Alida (Becker) Beekman. 
Of Dutch ancestry on the paternal side and 
German on his mother's, he is a representative 
of one of the oldest and most notable families 
in the county. 

The first progenitor of the l?eekman family 
in this country was John lieekman, an early 
settler in Albany, N.\'. , who later removed to 
a farm in the Mohawk valley. William, the 
next in line of descent, born in 1767, was the 
first Judge of Schoharie County, which ])osition 
he held for thirty years. When a boy he was 
clerk to Colonel Marius Willet. He was ap- 
pointed County Judge by Governor George 
Clinton, and held that office until 1833. In 
the yeans 1798, 1800, 1801, and 1802 he repre- 
sented his district in the State Senate. He 
was married July 18, 1788, to Joanna Low, 
daughter of Nicholas Low, and he afterward re- 
moved to Sharon, this county. His death took 
]ilace at Sharon on N'ovember 26, 1845, in the 
house which he liail built in 1802-4, ant! 
which is still standing. 

Nicholas Beekman, son of Judge Beekman 



and father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born at .Sharon, N. V., November 27, 1790. 
He became a prominent citizen of the town of 
Middeburg, where for a long |)erio(l he was 
engaged in farming and hop-growing, being 
one of the first hop-growers in the .Schoharie 
valley. He served as Supersisor antl in other 
offices, and represented the county in the State 
legislature of 1841. His marriage, which oc- 
curred June 16, 181 I, united him with Alida, 
daughter of Ua\id Ikcker, antl their wedded 
life extended through a ])eriod of <iver si.xty 
years. He survivetl his wife b\- two years and 
four days, dying January 13, 1874. Of tlieir 
twelve children, si.x survived them. 

Duryea Beekman came to Middleburg with 
his jiarents when a boy. His education was 
obtained in the schools of this town. .Since 
early manliood his cai)acity has been tlemon- 
strated in various business enterprises, and he 
now holds a high position in the business com- 
munity. Elected president of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Middleburg at the time of its 
organization in iSSo, he still remains in office. 
The hank is regarded as one of the best in this 
part of the State, and its reputation is due in 
chief measure to its excellent management. 
Mr. Beekman was for man\ years secretary and 
is now \ice-president of the Middleburg & 
Schoharie Railroad. He is a director of the 
Davenport, i\Iiddleburg & Durham Railroad 
Company and a director of the Merchants' and 
F'armers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 
politics a Democrat, he served in the legisla- 
ture of 1879, having been elected by a majority 
of one thousand li\e lumdred and si.x \otes; 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



89 



and he has frequently represented his party in 
State and other conventions. He is a member 
of Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, F. & A. M. 

On October ig, 1859, Mr. Beekman married 
Elizabeth Richtniyer, a daughter of Peter and 
Elizabeth Richtmyer. Mrs. Beekman's pater- 
nal grandfather, Captain George Richtmyer, a 
native of Germany, came to America in 1745, 
antl settled at Hartman's Dorf, in the town of 
Middleburg. Captain Richtmyer was subse- 
quently an officer in the American army during 
the Revolutionary War. He fought at Bemis 
Heights, and served with distinction in every 
engagement that occurred in the Schoharie 
valley. I\h". and Mrs. Beekman have been the 
parents of three children, namely: Charles, 
who died in infancy; Dow, of whom a separate 
sketch appears in this volume ; and William G. 



M 



OW BEEKMAN, of Middleburg, 
^ m one of the leading lawyers and busi- 
ness men of Schoharie County, was 
born in this town, February 8, 1862, son of 
Duryea and Elizabeth (Richtmyer) Beekman. 
He comes of an old Schoharie County family, 
and a fuller account of his ancestors may be 
found in connection with the sketch of his 
father, Duryea Beekman, on the preceding 
page of this volume. 

After the usual common -school course Dow 
Beekman prepared for college at Hartwick 
Seminary, Otsego County. He then entered 
Union College, at which he was graduated in 
1884, having taken four of the most important 
prizes in the course. From September, 18S4, 



until June, 1886, he was professor of mathe- 
matics at Union Classical Institute, Schenec- 
tady, N.Y. , and during the same period he de- 
voted his spare time to the study of law in the 
office of Judge Samuel W. Jackson, of that city. 
In September, 1886, he was admitted to the 
bar at Saratoga, and immediately began the 
practice of his profession in Middleburg. 
Since then he has built up what is probably 
the largest law business in this part of the 
county. In 1889 he was elected District At- 
torney of Schoharie County, receiving a major- 
ity of one thousand eight hundred votes, and 
during his term of office he never presented an 
indictment that was set aside or quashed. He 
has been attorney and counsel in many impor- 
tant cases, is attorney for the Middleburg & 
Schoharie Railroad Company, for the Daven- 
port, Middleburg & Durham Railroad, and 
also for the corporation of the \'illage of 
Middleburg. He is the possessor of an un- 
usually extensive library. 

Mr. Beekman is also a man of practical busi- 
ness ability. He is a director of the Middle- 
burg & Schoharie Railroad Company, attorney 
and treasurer of the Merchants' and Farmers' 
Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and a director 
and secretary of the Middleburg Telephone 
Exchange ComiDany. A Democrat in politics, 
he is secretary of the Democratic County Com- 
mittee, and has delivered many addresses in 
different parts of the State in every Presiden- 
tial campaign since he became a voter, ha\'ing 
on several occasions been sent out by the 
Democratic State Committee. He has also 
delivered addresses on subjects foreign to poll- 



9° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



tics, and liis ability as a speaker has been fre- 
quently recognized by the press. 

Mr. Bcekman has been Master of Middle- 
burg Lodge, No. 663, F. & A. I\L, for four 
years. In 1896 he served as District Dejjuty 
Grand Master of the Kleventh IMasonic Dis- 
trict, which comprises Delaware, Schoharie, 
and Greene Counties. He is now District Dep- 
uty Grand Master of the Eighteenth District, 
comprising Schoharie and Otsego Counties. 
He is a member of John L. Lewis Chapter, 
R. A. M. He has also been District Deputy 
Grand Sachem of the Improved Order of Red 
Men, and belongs to the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. 

On June 9, 1S91, Mr. Heekman married 
Miss Laura Frisbie, daughter of Grandison N. 
Frisbie, of Middleburg. Tw(j children ha\c 
blessed their union — Marjorie Elizabeth and 
Douw Frisbie. 




IIOMAS W. JERALDS, a retired busi- 
Q j I ness man and wealth)- resident of Ash- 
land, was born in Waterbury, Conn., August 
28, 1839, son of Thomas and Mary (Brown) 
Jeralds. Both his father and his paternal 
grandfather, whose given name was Ransom, 
were natives of Bethany, Conn. Ransom 
Jeralds, hnwever, removetl from that town to 
Wallingford, same .State, where he carried on 
a farm for the rest of his active period, his 
death (jccurring at the age of seventy-nine 
years. 

When a young man Thcimas Jeralds became 
a Methoilist minister, and was attached to the 



New York East Conference for about twenty 
years. He was subsequently engaged in tiie 
silverware business at Meriden, Conn., until 
his retirement. He died at the age of forty- 
seven years. His first wife, Mary, who was 
a native of Burlington, Conn., died in early 
womanhood, leaving two children, namely: 
Ellen M., who married Henry Wooding, and is 
no longer living; and Thomas W. , the subject 
of this sketch. h'or his second wife he mar- 
ried Betse}' Parker, a sister of Charles Parker, 
a ])rominent manufacturer of Meriden and 
the first Mayor of that cit}'. Of this union 
there were three children, two of whom 
are living, namely: Sarah R.. who married 
John Ten Eyck ; and Mar\- ,\., who married a 
Mr. Morgan, of Meriden, Ci n. Mrs. Betsey 
P. Jeralds is still living, and is now ninety-two 
years olil. 

Thomas W. Jeralds went from the Walling- 
ford High School to the academy in Meriden, 
and his studies were completed at the Ashland 
Collegiate Institute. P.ntering mercantile 
business in this town, he continiicil it in Chesh- 
ire and still later in Wallingford, where he 
kept a general store for some time. From 
Wallingford he removed to Ashland, N.Y., 
where he engaged in active business until his 
retirement in 1H90, and where he still makes 
his home. He has business interests in \-ari- 
ous places, and his time is now devoted to the 
care of his investments and to the management 
of his fine estate in this town. This \aluable 
property, which is known as Crescent Lawn, 
consists of one hundred and fift\-five acres of 
desirably located laud, used chieHy for dairy 




T. \V. JKRALIJ5. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



93 



purposes and the cultivation of small fruits, 
anil containing two substantial residences ad- 
joining each other. 

In i860 Mr. Jeralds was joined in marriage 
with Frances A. Tuttle, a native of Ashland, 
daughter of Albert and Aurelia Tuttle. Al- 
bert Tuttle was a well-to-tlo merchant and 
speculator. He figured consj)icu()usly in the 
public affairs of this town, and held all uf the 
important local offices. He also served as 
Postmaster, and while a member of the Assem- 
bl_\- he introduced the act incorporating the 
town of Ashland. He was the father of five 
children by his first union, and by a second 
marriage he had two children, one of whom 
became Mrs. Jeralds. Mi's. Jeralds died Jan- 
uary 9, 1898, aged fifty-eight years. She was 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and a lovely Christian lady. She left three 
children; namely, Carolines., Hattie A., 
and John T. Caroline married Lorenzo R. 
Cook, of the White Sewing Machine Com- 
pany, and proprietor of a large diy-goods store 
at Wallingfoi-d, Conn. Hattie A. married 
Charles C. Carroll, a jeweller of Wallingford, 
and her children are: ]-!arbaraJ., Frances W., 
and Doris J. John T. , who is residing in 
East Haven, Conn., married ]5erta L. W'hit- 
lesey, of East Haven. 

In politics Mr. Jeralds is a Republican. 
He held the appointment of Postmaster both in 
Cheshire and Yalesville, and .scr\ed with abil- 
ity as Supervisor in Ashland for the years 
1891-92. Plis interest in the welfare of Ash- 
land began some forty years ago, when he first 
engaged in business; and during the period of 



his residence elsewhere his attachment to the 
place WMS unabatcil. He is a member of and 
a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
but has contributed liberally to the different 
churches. He takes a lively interest in Sun- 
day-school work, and rendered valuable aid in 
securing and furnishing the rooms of the Young 
Men's Christian Association. Mr. Jeralds is 
an Odd F"ellow, and formerly belonged to the 
Meriden Centre Lodge, Mcriden, Conn. 




s,Wfi> lISS JANE VAN LOAN, one of 
the most prominent and highl_\- le- 
spccted ladies of Catskill, was 
born in this place, her parents being William 
W. and Sally (Du Bois) Van Loan. 

Her gi-andfather. Captain Isaac Van Loan, 
was in his time the leading man of the town, 
and widely known throughout all this section of 
the county. He had lai'ge shipping intei'ests, 
and was the owner of several sloops which ran 
on the river. When young he had learned the 
mason's trade, and always as long as he'lived 
he took a deep interest in the welfare of me- 
chanics, and aided them in every possible way. 
Nor was his helpfulness extended to this class 
alone. Every person deserving of sympathy 
was sure to find in Captain Van Loan's warm 
heart, which overflowed with kindness to all 
mankind, a fountain of considation, and every 
worthy cause found in him an imfailing cham- 
pion. A man of fervid religious aspirations, 
in the churcii he was a pillar of strength. He 
was a member of .St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 
and many years one of its vestrymen. He 



!>» 



-^^.RAFHICAL KEVIEW 



UfiK a pr 



iij I>jCir. 



ad. 



"xr fd the 

He i«a<( '/j»c ol those : 



'jf gooJ chlzc 

the t/zM-rs a» K'jad >la5i^t£r, and tor a * 

ty- His death occarr.; 



H^rmaiden - \yr^.\. 

r <(f ytat^me L 
I'^i^ the ae Die* 

live*? 



of the fanK/us Xcw V y of tfci 

Captain Isaac and Jane i\i%e%) Van I>jar. 



A 



:« I^'jan 



village, '- until i - 

when be S'jltJ New York City. 

There he ofMmed a general merchandise store 
Ferry Station now st^ 



the ^rfvl 'rf th^ rj'v, M•^•= V-?*? T.'w?* r^-mem- 



the cholera epidemic m Nev' 



we Mr. 



ly. 

♦***Y ; Mr, Van 

came back to his natire place and 

':;nt into mercanr in the store 

Mr. Fox ntrib i>. Jie &«aa] consider- 

-' ■ ' - - t- - --.^'s 

... . .. . . .; for 

"ii's, having the jj .-re Mr. 

-Kcnr \ttaXtd. I : t the age of 

He and bis vife were members 

m: j> Chorcbu Mrs. Van Loan was 

- --- - - ^ - . ' •' . rjpe 

r>f 

* Da Bois, , vng 

'. with the exception of the 

; time he serred in the Cor. during 

. Of ♦ ^u o(^a to Will- 

i(Du li'. -, ;-. Ijaa, f/aly two 

, ,.-.: years. Thau: were Jane and 

kache], who died in 5*95, at the 

venty-two, was the f John 

i^reasted, who was prominently identified with 

-J Works and with the Morgan 

f Peter 

- - -g resi- 

town. John Breasted had an 

• office in Xew Vork f'jr Vime years, but later 

I retomed to Catskill, and ir. .y with 

•'Tcrs boilt the VtftsptcX Park Hoie., He was 

. .... -^, ... died in 

' 1884. He gave a bell for ik. Lake's Church. 

The Van Lojn family has been identified 

I with St. Luke's Church longer than any other 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



05 



family now living, and Miss Van L'*an has re- 
cently shown her appreciation of the signifi- 
cance of this fact, as well as her affectionate 
veneration for her grandfather and sister, by 
the gift of a beautiful spire and a costly altar 
rail for the new church. This building is said 
to be the handsomest on the Hudson, and the 
spire, which has been erected at a cost of fif- 
teen hundred dollars, is a masterpiece of design 
and construction, and greatly admired. It can 
be seen twenty miles down the Hudsson, 
towering up into the blue. In it is hung the 
bell given by Mr. Breasted. The altar rail, 
which is of s(A\d brass, is e.vquisitely en- 
graved, and will Ije inscribed through its en- 
tire length on the front and back. On one 
side the inscription will be in memory of Mrs. 
Breasted, and on the other in memory of Cap- 
tain Isaac Van Loan. It is to be made and put 
in at ;• f'-» ' f '^•'-•'- hundred and fifty dollars. 




H.LIAM .S. HAMLIN, Postmaster, 
and general merchant, Glcnville,' 
.Schenectady County, N. Y., was bom in this 
town, February 28, 1855, son of Anson B. and 
Abigail (Cstrom) Hamlin. The father was 
bom in Connecticut, September 7, 1807, and 
the m<rther was bom in Glcnville, April i, 
1811. 

Ansftn B. Hamlin followed the ..rj.-. .-, 
trade in his early days; and, coming to Glcn- 
ville when still a young min, he kept a hot:. 
here for some time. He subsequently carried* 
on a farm for a number of years, and, returning^ 



here in 1S67, he was engaged in mercantilc 
business until selling out to his .son in 1882. 
His la-st years were spent in retirement, and he 
died May ig, 1895. He was a man of good 
business ability and upright character, and he 
gained the good will of all with whom he had 
dealings. In politics he was a Republican. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Abigail Os- 
trom, became the mother of ten children, five 
of whom are living, namely: David H. ; Jew- 
ett C. ; Chri.stopher ; William .S., the subject 
of this sketch; and Clarissa. The others 
were: Lyman G., Oliver, Heman, Rachel A., 
and Betsey. M- /^ '•'"::' O Hamlin died in 
1889. 

William S. Hamlin after attending the com- 
mon schools of Glcnville completed his studies 
with a commercial course at a business college 
in Troy. Beginning when twelve years old to 
make himself useful as an a.ssistant to his 
father, he later gave his whole time to the 
business in the capacity of a clerk, and con- 
tinued as such until becoming its proprietor. 
He conducts the oldest-establi.shed general 
store in this part of the town, keeps a large 
and varied stock, including agricultural imple- 
ments, feed, fertilizers, and so forth, and has a 
numerous patronage. 

On November 23, 1882, Mr. Hamlin was 
united in marriage with Anna Bell, a native of 
West Charlton, Saratoga County, daughter of 
George Bell. 

Politically, Mr. Hamlin is a Republican. 
1 fc served with ability as Town Clerk one year, 
and is giving excellent .satisfaction as Po.st- 
master. He has a wide circle of friends and 



96 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



acquaintances who a])]ircciatc his many sterling 
qualities, and he is a member of Touareuna 
Lodge; No. 35,- I. O. O. L. 



^yi':XRV VAX DR1-:S1':R, a prominent 
ilairymnn and poultr\' raiser of Coble- 
skill, N.Y., pro]irietor of Eureka 
Stock ami Ponltry Farm, was born September 
4, 1839, in SL-hoharie, Schoharie County, a 
son of John I. and Anna (Warner) Van 
Dreser. On the ])atern;il side he comes of 
substantial iJuteh ancestr\-. His grandfnther, 
the Rev. Henry \'an Dreser, a Presb)terian 
minister, emigrated from Holland to New- 
York, and for se\-enteen _\ears thereafter 
preached in Schenectad}'. He married Anna 
Fergueson, a fair Scotch maiden, who b(ii"e 
him thirteen chililren. 

John I. \'an Dreser spent a large part of his 
early life in .Schohaiie, where for seven years 
he kept a li\er_\' stable. In 1846 he removed 
to Cobleskill, and, bu3ing a large farm, was 
here engaged in agricultural ]iursuits for a 
nnmlu'r of years. When well ad\'anced in age 
and unable longer to care for his propert}', he 
scdd his estate, and from that time until his 
death, at the venerable age uf eighty-seven 
yeais, made his home with his sons, J. W. and 
Henry. He was very successful as a farmer, 
and (|uite acti\'e in jjidilic life. He was a reg- 
ular attendant at the Lutheran church, which 
his wife joined when a gill of si.xteen. Her 
maiden name was Anna Warner. She was 
horn in Warners\il le, a daughter of Jacf)b 
Warner, a well known farmei' and the first 



dair\'man in Schoharie County. The first 
summer that Mi' Warner made a specialt)' of 
this particular branch of industry his herd of 
twenty cows produced a ton of butter, which 
he sold in the city of New York, whither he 
drove with a team. This transaction attracted 
such attention that for many years after he was 
known far and wide as "Putter Jake." Of 
the seven children born to John I. and Anna 
(Warner) Van Dreser, si.\ grew to maturity, 
namely : Sarah, the widow of the late Peter 
Shaffer; Cathering, deceased; Jacob W. ; 
Henry, the s])ecial subject of this sketch; 
Mar)' J., wife of Clinton Tillepaugh; I'anma, 
wife of John V. I'ace ; and Almira, wife of 
Adam V. Karkar. The nuither died at the ad- 
vanced age of fourscore and four )'ears. 

Hem}- \'an Dreser was reared on the home 
farm, and educated in the district schools. 
I'^arl)- becoming interested in the art and sci- 
ence of agriculture, he decided to make farm- 
ing his life occupation. In early manhood he 
bought in partnership with his brotlier Jacob 
the farm on which he now resides, an 1 for sev- 
eral years they worked it together. In 1S95 
Mr. \'an Dreser ])urehased his brother's in- 
terest in the estate, which he has since man- 
aged alone. 1 le has added substantial improve- 
ments, including the erection of the jjresent 
conveniently arranged hendiouse, it being the 
largest in Schoharie County, and in e\'ery de- 
partment has met with eminent success in his 
undertakings. 

He served as jHesident of the Cheviot Sheep 
breeders' Association of the L'niled States and 
Canada for three years. He is authority (jn 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



97 



breeds and breeding of thoroughbred cattle, 
and has served in the capacity of judge at the 
different fairs in this and other States for 
many years. He lias been employed for the 
hist four years by the New York State Farmers' 
Institute as instructor in his special lines of 
agriculture. He carries on general farming, 
but makes somewhat of a specialty of the rais- 
ing of stock and poultry, and dairy products. 
He has served ably as president of the New 
York State ]5reeders' Association, which is 
devoted to the improvement of the breeding of 
cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry, and is a 
charter member of the Barnerville Grange, be- 
fore which he often lectures or reads papers of 
interest. 

Mr. Van Dreser was married October i6, 
1873, to Miss funma J. Becker, daughter of 
the late James Becker, who died on his farm 
in Cobleskill, February 16, 1895, leaving a 
widow and four children. Mrs. Van Dreser is 
a graduate of the Normal College, a woman of 
culture and refinement. She holds a State 
certificate, and prior to her marriage she 
taught most successfully both in Cobleskill 
and Albany. 



(shames STEVENS, of Greenville, N.Y., 
a leading insurance agent of this sec- 
tion of (jreene County, was born on the 
farm where he now lives, in a house near his 
present dwelling-place. His family is an old 
one in the town, having been first represented 
here by his great-grandfather, Reuben Stevens, 
vvh(j came from Stamford, Conn., took up a 



tract of land, and became one of the pioneer 
settlers of this region. 

Reuben's son Samuel, grandfather of James 
Stevens, was born in Stamford. After coming 
here he engaged in farming. He died of typhus 
fever when only thirty-two years of age, this 
being in 1813. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Sally Jones, was a native of Stamford. 
She bore him three children, all of whom are 
deceased. Left a widow while yet a young 
woman, she married a second time, and lived 
to be eighty-four years of age. In religion 
she was a zealous Baptist. 

Mr. Stevens's parents were Orrin C. and 
Mary A. (Smith) Stevens, the father a native 
of Greenville. Orrin C. Stevens worked at 
carpentering while a young man, but subse- 
cpiently he carried on the farm where his son 
now lives. He owned a hundred and sixty 
acres, and vas a successful fariuer. He was 
warmly interested in all public affairs, and 
held various town ofifices, including among 
others that of Supervisor. For some time he 
was a Justice of the Peace. In politics he was 
an old-time Democrat. For years he was a 
trustee in the Presbyterian church, and one of 
its most active and influential members. Val- 
uable service was rendered by him as one of 
the Sons of Temperance. He lived to the age 
of eighty-three years. His wife, Mrs. Mary 
A. Stevens, who died in 1884, after a useful 
life covering three-quarters of a century, was 
born on a farm in West Springfield, being one 
of a family of si.x children. Her |)arents were 
Daniel and Sarah (Day) .Smith. Of her .seven 
children, three ai'c deceased. One of them, 



98 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



a son Samuel, was Captain of Company A of 
the Thirty-seveiitli Wisconsin Volunteers in 
the Civil War, antl lost his life in 1S64, dur- 
ing the attack on Petersburg. The living 
chiklren are: James, the subject of this 
sketch; Daniel, who is a jihysician and drug- 
gist in Nebraska; Anna, who is the wife of 
D. II. .Smith, a dentist of llidyoke, Mass.; 
and Orrin C, second, who is retired from 
business and resides in !\1 iddleburg. 

James Stevens grew u|) on the farm where 
he now resides. His education was received 
in the common schoids, and at Greenville 
Acadeni}'. Throughout his active life he has 
devoted more or less time to agricultural pur- 
suits, and for forty years he also did a large 
amount of land surveying. He has lived in 
the house which is now his home since 1883, 
when he removed here and took charge of his 
present farm of one hutnlred and thirteen 
acres. He carries on general farming. In 
1880 he began the insurance business, being 
elected that year secretary and treasurer of the 
village fire insurance comi^iny. This office he 
has since heUl, and in the inter\ening years he 
has had the satisfaction of seeing the company 
constantly increase until now it carries over 
two million dollars insurance. In the same 
year Mr. Stevens received his appointment as 
general agent of four other fire insin-ance com- 
panies, and in 1893 he organized the Greene 
County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of 
which he has since been secretary, treasurer, 
and general agent. This comixmy, which 
does a general insurance business at si.\t\' per 
cent, of stock rates, now has out over two 



thousand, one hundred and fifty policies in 
fire, representing two million, two huiulred 
and ninety-two thousand, si.\' hundred and 
seventy dollars. Its total recciiits for the \ear 
i8g8 were twelve thousand, five hundreil dol- 
lars, and the amount of money in the treasm-y 
on December 11, 189S, was thirteen thousand, 
four bumlred and forty-two dcdlars, and twenty- 
si.\ cents. The agents of the company operate 
in Greene, Albany, Columbia, Delaware, and 
Schoharie Counties. 

Mr. Stevens was married in 1866 to I*21iza- 
beth Sherrill, wiio was horn in Green\'ille, 
daughter of Ezra .Sheiiill, a well-known farmer 
of this place. She is the mother of two chil- 
dren — Lucena and Orrin C, third. Lucena 
marrietl Theodore Coonley, a farmer of this 
place. Orrin C, third, who is engaged in 
insurance in Greenville, married Arcia Cook, 
and has one child, James C. 

I'olitically, Mr. Stevens is a Democrat. 
He has held the office of Supervisor, and from 
January, 1889, to April, 1893, he was Deputy 
County Clerk. I'^ir five years he was clerk of 
the Hoard of Supervisors. Shortly after being 
first elected to the office of Town Clerk, he 
was chosen Second Lieutenant in Company A 
of the Twentieth Regiment of .State militia, 
and went South, serving for a time in the l^nion 
army. For many years he was a member of 
John W. Watson Post, G. A. R. , of Catskill, 
and heltl the office of Adjutant in the jiost ; 
but he subsequently joined the C. Swainc 
Evans Post, No. 580, of South Westerlo. 

Mr. Stevens is a Mason, having joined the 
organization in Alarch, 1858, in Cascatle 




SOLOMON SIAS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



lOI 



Lodge, V. & A. M., of Oak Hill. In i S64 
he w:is a charter member of James M. Austin 
Lodge, No. 557, of Greenville. Of this he 
was first Senior Deacon, for five years he was 
Junior Warden and Secretary, and for two 
years Master. He was formerly connected 
with the Co.xsackie Royal Arch Chapter, No. 
85 ; and upon the organization of the Green- 
ville Chapter, No. 283, he became a charter 
member of that body. He has held the offices 
of Scribe and King. He is also a charter 
member of Zeus Lodge, No. 360, of the 
Greenville Knights of Pythias, was formerl)- 
Chancellor, and is at the present time Master 
of Exchecjuer. Mr. Stevens is a liberal sup- 
porter of the Presbyterian church, of wliich 
his famil\- are members. 




^OLOMON SIAS, principal of the 
^/^ public schools of Schoharie, N.Y., 
and one of the leading educators in 
the count)', is a native of Danville, Caledonia 
County, Vt. He was born June 13, 1829. 
His father, the Rev. Solomon Sias, son of 
Benjamin and Abigail Sias, was born in Lon- 
don, Meirimack County, N. H. Grandfather 
Sias removed with his family from London to 
Danville, being among the pioneer farmers in 
that town, where he and his wife lived to a 
good old age. They had eight children. 

Solomon Sias, Sr. , grew to manhood on the 
paternal farm, attending school as opportunit\' 
offered. Feeling himself called to preach the 
gospel, and giving such proof of his calling 
that people heard him gladly, he became a cir- 



cuit rider and later a presiding Elder, his cir- 
cuit taking in at different periods Western 
Maine, New Hampshire, and Eastern Vermont. 
By himself he acquired a knowledge of Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew. He was a fluent and 
forcible speaker, thoroughly familiar with the 
Holy Scriptures, a man of great resource of 
thought and expression. He was accustomed 
to ride on horseback from place to place to 
preach every day and evening, wherever he 
could get an audience. In L3'nn, Mass., 
where he was pastor of the Union Street Meth- 
odist Church, 1S15-16, he started the first 
Methodist Sunday-school in New England. 
He was sent several times as a delegate to the 
General Conference of the Methodist L4.iiscopal 
Church, to which he belonged. He died at tlie 
age of seventy-two, a well-].ireserved man to 
the last, after thirty years of service in his 
Master's vineyard. He married a widow, Mrs. 
Amelia Rogers Hewes, the ninth lineal de- 
scendant of John Rogers, the Smithfield 
martyr. Mrs. Sias died at the age of sixty- 
seven, having reared five children, three by 
her first husband, Mr. Hewes, and two by her 
second, namely: Solomon, the subject of this 
sketch; and Amelia, who married Azro 
Mathewson. 

Mr. Sias, of Schoharie, was educated at 
Newbury Seminary, Newbury, Vt. ; at Middle- 
bury College in that State and at Wesleyan 
University, Middletnwn, Conn., where he be- 
longed to the class of 1852. He was an assist- 
ant teacher at Newbury Seminary as early as 
1850. He received the degree A.M. from 
Middleburv College, \'t., and of Doctor of 



102 



BIOGRAl'llICAL REVIEW 



AK-(licinc from the I'nivcrsily of Vermont at 
]5urlington. I'rom 1854 to i 859 he taught at 
I'ort ]'"(l\varil Iiiistitute, New York, holding 
tlie eliair of professor of natural science under 
Josei)h 1-'.. King president of the Institute. 
Leaving l-'ort luhvard, he accepted a call to 
take ciiarge of a college for women at Bonhani, 
Tex., where he remained conducting the affairs 
of the college fm- eight years. lie then came 
to New York State and accepted a call to take 
charge of the seminary at Charlotte\'ille. In 
1874 he came to Scliohaiie and took tlie posi- 
tion he now holds, which, with the exception 
of a hrief period — 1877 to 187S — spent in 
Texas as president of the Soule Uni\ersity at 
Chapel Hill, he has held continuously from 
that date. 

The Schoharie school has greatl\- improved 
under his management, and is now a first-class 
high school in every respect and very flourish- 
ing. Ahout two hundred students are enrolled 
and five subordinate teachers are employed. 
Mr. Sias is the oldest principal in active ser- 
vice in the county, and is among the oldest in 
the State as princi|ial and teacher. lie has 
arranged for the Schoharie school the most ad- 
vanced course of any school in the county, and 
he always keeps up to the times in means and 
methods of educational work, using the latest 
ajjproved text-books and reference books. His 
efforts are imiformly inilorsed by the State 
regents, at whose request he has s])oken 
upon numerous educational topics in the 
conventions held at the State capital. lie 
has attended all of the meetings since 1866 and 
every county institute lor thirty years, speak- 



ing at many of them. He has been secretary 
of the county institute for nearly fifteen \eais, 
has been assistant conductor one year, besides 
often serving briefly as assistant conductor of 
other institutes. 

He was married July 2, 1857, to Lina 
Baker, daughter of Daniel Baker, of Youngs- 
town, New York. One child was born of this 
union, a son named Frederick. He w-as edu- 
cated in the Schoharie schools, then learned 
telegraphy at Brooklyn, N.Y. , and became 
manager of a telegraph office. Taken suddenly 
ill with t)phnitl pneumonia, he died at the age 
of nineteen. 

Professor Sias is a fellow of the American 
Association for the Advancemerit of Science, 
to which he has belonged since 1 866, and for 
several years he was an observer for the Smith- 
sonian Institution. He has had charge of an 
educational department in the Schoharie A'l- 
publican, to which he has contributed articles 
that have been copied by the leading educational 
papers of the State, and he has been a frequent 
correspondent of several other journals. He is 
an acti\-e member of the Schoharie County 
Historical Society, of which he was one of the 
three original organizers. He was instrumen- 
tal in securing the "Old Stone Fort " for the 
purposes of the society. He is likewise con- 
nected with the meilical society of this county, 
having served as brigade surgeon during the 
Civil War. Mr. Sias was made a Mason in 
Connecticut, was afterward connected with the 
order in X'erniont and later in Texas, where he 
was Mastei' of a lodge. He is now a twenty- 
scwntli degree Mason, a member of Schoharie 



JJIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Lodge, No. 491, and of the chapter and coun- 
cil. As an Odd Fellow he belongs to To- 
wos-scho-ho Lodge i)f Schoharie, has twice 
been Noble Grand, is now a member of Mid- 
dleburg luicampment, and Past Captain of 
Canton Young, No. 45, of Schoharie. In jioli- 
tics he is a Democrat. 

Mrs. Sias is a graduate of the collegiate 
department of Fort Edward Institute, and has 
taught school. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sias are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and he has preached a great number of sermons 
in pulpits of Schoharie and the neighboring 
towns. 




NDREW G. LIDDLE, a stirring farmer 
01 Princetown, was born in this town, 
February 23, 1859. Son of Alex- 
ander and liarbara (Gregg) Liddle, he C(}mes 
of highly re]uitable Scotch ancestry, being of 
the fourth generation in descent from Alexan- 
der Liddle, a native of Scotland, who emi- 
grated with his parents when a young man, and 
was an early settler in Duanesburg. This is 
the line: Alexander, Robert, Alexander, sec- 
ond, Andrew G, 

Alexander Liddle, first, became a large land 
owner. The farm now owned by his grandson, 
Alexander, second, was a part of his estate, 
and he resided here until his death, which oc- 
curred in his ninety-third year. He was a 
member of the Reformed Presbyterian church, 
and a strong Abolitionist. The maiden name 
of his wife was Mary Gifford. 

Robert Liddle, the grandfather, was born in 



Duanesburg, January 12, 1803. He was a 
prosperous farmer during his active years, and 
he died in Duanesburg at the age of eighty- 
eight. Politically, he was originally a Whig, 
and later a Republican. In his younger days 
he took an active part in military affairs, and 
was Captain of a local rifle company. He was 
an Inkier of the Presbyterian church. Robert 
Liddle was three times married; and his first 
wife, Sarah Smith, a native of Princetown, be- 
came the mother of eight children, namely: 
Alexander; Abigail, born October 6, 1828; 
Mary, born August 31, 1830; Ann E., born 
March 3, 1834; Charles, born March 7, 1836; 
Thomas G., born July 18, 1838; Abram S., 
born June 9, 1840; and Robert W. , born 
April 30, 1842. By his union with Sarah 
Robinson, his second wife, there were five 
children: Angus M., born January 29, 1846; 
Duncan N., born March 26, 1848; Jenette, 
born August 12, 1850; and Sarah C. and John 
K., twins, who are no longer living. 

Alexander Liddle, second, the father, was 
born April 17, 1827, upon a farm adjoining 
the one which he now occupies. He was 
reared to farm life, and at the age of twenty- 
nine years he bought a farm in Princetown of 
one hundred and twenty-nine acres, upon 
which he resided for sixteen years, and which 
he still owns. He has occupied his present 
farm of one hundred acres in Duanesburg since 
1885, and this property is provided with good 
buildings and is otherwise well improved. 
His energy and industry continue unabated, 
and he is highly esteemed by his fellow-towns- 
men. He supports the- Republican party at 



104 



IMOGRAl'IIICAL RF.VIEW 



natiimal elections, but lias ne\'er cared t(i Imld 
office. Like his ancestors he is a Reformed 
l'resl)\-lerian in religion, and acts as an Elder 
of that church. Mrs. Barbara Grei^^g Liddle, 
his first wife, who was a native of Rotterdam, 
N. V\, died Ajiril 14, 1874, leaving; two sons 
— Robert A. and Andrew G. Robert A. 
Liddle, born December 4, 1^56, married Re- 
becca Wemple, resides in Duanesburg, and has 
three children — James, Barbara, and Anna. 
On February g, 1876, Alexander Liddle mar- 
ried for his second wife Margaret Cowell, who 
was born in England, January 30, 1839. B)- 
this union he has one daughter, Jeannettc S., 
who was born March 17, 1S78. 

.\ndiew C. Liddle, the special subject of 
this sketch, was educated in the district 
schools of Princetown. He has always resided 
upon the fai'ni he now cultivates, which was 
purchasetl b\- his father in 1856, and since 
reaching manhood he has successfullv managed 
the property. He raises oats, rye, corn, and 
hay, keeps about ten head of stock, and ranks 
among the leading farmers of this section of 
Schenectady County. 

Mr. Liddle married Lillie \l DeFore.st, of 
Alban\', and has three children, name])- : 
Alexander, born July 7, 1883; Edith, born 
January 26, 1886; and I^aura M., born ALiy 6, 
I 890. 

In politics Mr. Liddle is a Reijublican, and 
has served with ability as Supervisor for three 
years. He belongs to Farmers' (irange. No. 
709, Patrons of Husbandry, antl has served as 
Master for three years. He is a member of 
the South Reformed Presbyterian church. 




% 



H.XRl.ES \"OSS, merchant and Post- 
master at Tannersville, Greene 
Count\', N.Y. , was born in Ilol- 
stein, German\', F\-brnary 14, 1849, son of 
Frederick and Maria (Retting) Voss. LI is 
great-grandfather, Hans Van Voss, who was a 
native of Holland, removed to Holstein, and 
after living there a short time had the name 
changed to Voss. Lie was a farmer and 
dr(j\-er, and followed these occuijations until 
his death, which occurred when he was sixty 
\^ears old. 

John \'oss, grandfather of Charles, was born 
in Holland. He also followed farming, and 
was one of the largest drovers in his vicinity. 
He had a large family of chiklren, among 
them being P'rcderick, Henry, Horace, An- 
drew, and Louisa. He died at about sixty 
years of age. P'rederick \'oss, father of 
Charles, was also a farmer and cattle dealer. 
He shijiped cattle fi'om Denmark to ]{ngland, 
doing an extensive business in that line; and 
he tilled the soil (jf a large farm successfully 
until he was about sixty years old, when he re- 
tired. He then removed to Altona, near the 
city of Hamburg, where he died at sex'cnty- 
eight. Lie made three visits to his son 
Charles in .America. His wife, Maria, was a 
native of Holstein, where her father, Adolph 
Retting, followed farming, and where he died 
at over seventy years of age. She was the 
mother of eleven chikhen, nine of whom — 
namely, William, P^dward, Charles, Mary, kla, 
/\ndrew, Otto, Phaiest, and 'Pheodore — are 
still lix'ing, four residing in America. IVLu'y 
the eldest bister, married P'red Koch; lila 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



nianied a Lieutenant in the German army ; 
Otto resides in Florida; and Ernest is in 
Piiiladel]3hia. Theodore is a carpenter and 
builder in Phcenicia, N. Y. The others were 
Frederick and Dora. Tiie mother died in 
1896, being over eighty years old. The par- 
ents were members of the Lutheran church. 
Charles Vos.s spent his early years in his 
native town, and acquired his education in pri- 
vate schools. After finishing his studies he 
learned the trade of a miller and a cabinet- 
maker. He began his three years' apprentice- 
ship at the latter at the age of sixteen, and 
worked as a journeyman one year. In i86g he 
came to America, sailing from Hamburg and 
landing in New York, where he at once se- 
cured employment in a bakery. He next went 
to Phoenicia, N.Y. , and he was employed in 
the Chichester Chair Factory for one year. 
At the expiration of that time he went to Sul- 
livan County, Pennsylvania, and was engaged 
for two seasons in peeling hemlock bark. Re- 
turning to Phoenicia, he spent another year in 
the chair factory, and passed the next in Ger- 
many. Upon his return to the United .States 
in 1876, he attended the Centennial Exhibi- 
tion in Philatlelphia, and, remaining in that 
city the entire summer, he was employed as 
conductor on the Chestnut Street line of cars. 
Going to Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in 
tlie fall of that year, he worked on a farm, and 
also ran a milk route to Philadelphia, follow- 
ing this occupation for two years, when he 
sold out and returned to Phoenicia. He later 
became manager of the store owned by the 
Chichester Chair Company, which position he 



occupied for nine years. Removing to Hun- 
ter, he erected the hotel known as "The Bel- 
videre, " which has accommodations for one 
hundred and twenty-five guests. After con- 
ducting this hotel for eight years, he sold the 
property. Later he repurchased it, and still 
owns and rents it. He owns two dwellin^- 
houses, one of which adjoins the hotel, and is 
used by him as a residence. In 1892 he 
rented the store formerly occupied by Jacob 
Fromer. This he conducted for five years, 
when he was obliged to make an assignment; 
but he soon settled with his creditors, and 
again started in business. The building he 
now occupies he erected in 1894 as an anne.x 
to his large establishment, and it was used for 
the hardware and plumbing departments. 
L'pon the expiration of his lease of Mr. Fro- 
mer's property, he removed the annex to its 
present location, where he now carries grocer- 
ies and notions. The post-office is located in 
his store; and on July i, 1898, he received the 
appointment of Postmaster for four years. 

In 1880 Mr. Voss was united in marriage 
with Jennie E. Haner, daughter of William 
M. Haner, of Prattsville. Her great-grand- 
father, Martin Haner, who was a native of 
Dutchess County, moved from there to Pratts- 
ville, and was a pioneer farmer. Her grand- 
father, also named Martin, went from Dutch- 
ess County to Prattsville, and settled upon a 
farm two miles from the village on the road to 
West Kill. He died at the age of seventy- 
five. He married for his first wife Elizabeth 
Shumaker. They had seven children, three of 
whom are living, namel)' : Lawrence, who 



io6 



EIOGRAl'IIICAL REVIEW 



manicd Judith Spencer; William M. llancr, 
Mrs. Voss's father; and Jemima A., who mar- 
ried Henry Palmer, of Gilboa. Mrs. Kliza- 
beth S. Ilaner died at the age of fifty. 

William M. Haner, after cultivating a farm 
in I'rattsville some time, nicnx'd to the town 
of Roxbury, where he continued to till the soil 
until his retirement. He is still living, and 
is now seventy-six years old. His wife, Cor- 
nelia Maginnis, a native of Prattsville, is a 
daughter of Jacob and Jennie (Stanley) Ma- 
ginnis. His familv consisted of eight chil- 
dren, four of whom are living, namely: 
George Haner, M.D., who resides in Tanners- 
ville; Jennie E. , who is now Mrs. Charles 
Voss ; Homer, who resides in Omaha; and 
Clark R., a book-keeper in Tannersville. 
The mother attends the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Mrs. Voss v^'as educated in the com- 
mon schools of Prattsville and at Jewett Acad- 
emy. She is the mother of three children — 
Ralph, Ethel Ann, and Mollie M. Ralph is 
attending the high school in Hunter, and 
lithel Ann has attained the highest rank in her 
class at school the jjresent year. Mollie M. 
Voss, now a student in the Hunter High 
School, is considered the champion girl trick 
bicycle rider in the State. 

Mr. Voss is a Republican in jjolitics, and 
has taken an active part in public affairs. He 
was Supervisor in 1892 and 1893. He was 
greatly interested in the incojjoration of the 
village, and was Trustee in 1S97 and Presi- 
dent in i8g8. He has been a member of 
Kingston Lodge, E. & A. M., for over twent\- 
five years; is a charter member of Catskill 



Chajiter, Royal .Arch Masons, and also belongs 
to the Royal Arcanum. The family attend 
the Congregational church as well as the Sun- 
day-school, in which Mrs. Voss is a teacher. 



IRA M. TERPENING, a skilful and pro- 
gressive agriculturist of P'ulton, N.Y., 
was born Jul\- 31, 1857, in the town of 
Kno.x, Albany Coimty, a son of Henry H. Ter- 
pening. His paternal grandfather, Moses Ter- 
pen ing, was born ami brought up in Esopus, 
Ulster County, N.\'., wlience he renioxed to 
Albany County, where he settled on a farm in 
Kno.x, being one of its earlier pioneers. Sub- 
sequently, coming to Summit in Schoharie 
Coimty, Moses Terpening was there engaged 
in general farming until his decease, at the 
advanced age of eighty-eight years. He mar- 
ried a Miss Snytler, and they reared ten 
children. 

Henry H. Terpening was educated in the 
district schools, and, becoming a farmer from 
choice, he purchased land, when a young man, 
in Cortland County, where he [lursued his in- 
dependent calling a few years. Not being 
verv well satisfied with his prospects thcrcS he 
sold out and removed to Knox, in Albany 
County. Several years later he purcha.sed 
the farm in Fulton that is now owned and 
occujMed by his son, Ira M., and here passed 
his remaining da)-s, <lying August 10, 1897, 
at the venerable age of ninety-one years. A 
man of integrity, he was highly respected by 
all. In politics he was an adherent of the Re- 
publican party. He married Cornelia L. , 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



107 



daughter of Jeremiah Havens, a lifelong 
farmer of Jefferson, N.Y. They reared four 
children, namely: Ira M., of Fulton; Eunice,, 
wife of John Fecck ; Bertha, the wife of 
Charles Mann, of whom a brief sketch appears 
elsewhere in this volume; and Henry J. Both 
parents were members of the Reformed church, 
in which the father was an holder. 

Ira M. Terpening obtained a practical edu- 
cation in the public schools of his native town, 
and from his earliest youth, when not in 
school, assisted in the labors of the home 
farm. On the death of his father he succeeded 
to the ownership of the homestead estate of 
one hundred and fifty acres, and he has since 
managed it with signal success. He carries 
on general farming, including stock-raising to 
some extent and dairying. In politics he is 
a sound ReiHiblican. He is a member of the 
Dutch Reformed church of Aliddleburg, and 
he and his family attend also the Sunday- 
school connected with that church. 

On January 14, 1876, Mr. Terpening mar- 
ried Angeline Murphy, daughter of Peter Mur- 
phy, of Fulton, and grand-daughter of Timothy 
Murphy, the renowned Indian scout. Tim- 
othy Murphy, born in America, of Irish par- 
ents, was one of the pioneer settlers of this 
section of Schoharie County, and one (jf the 
largest landholders of Fulton, owning also 
large tracts of real estate in South Worcester 
and in other places along the Susquehanna. 
During the Revolutionary War he rendered in- 
estimable assistance as one of the most brave 
and daring scouts. His exploits, wliich are 
well-known to all students of history, won fur 



him the name of "Muriiliy, the Indian 
Killer." At Bemis Heights his gallant con- 
duct turned the tide of affairs and gave to 
General Gates the victory. At the "Middle 
Fort," by his cool and decisive actions, and 
more especially by his refusal to obey the 
orders of a superior officer, he saved the Scho- 
harie garrison from falling a prey to the Retl- 
skins. After the war he resumed the jnu-suit 
of agriculture, and remained on his farm until 
his death, at the age of si.xty-seven years. 
His first wife, Margaret Feeck, was born in 
Fulton, on Mr. Terpening's farm, and died in 
this town at the early age of forty years. She 
left five children, of whom Peter was the 
youngest. 

Peter Murphy inherited the ancestral home- 
stead in Fulton and two other farms in this 
vicinity. These three he carried on simulta- 
neously, and for years was one of the largest 
and best-known agriculturists of Fulton, where 
he spent his long and useful life of fourscore 
and four )'ears. He was deeply interested in 
the welfare of his native town, which he 
served as Supervisor two terms, and as Collec- 
tor a number of years. His wife, Catherine 
Jiorst, was born on the old Borst farm in Scho- 
harie, one of the nine children of Peter Borst, 
a jjrosperous farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy 
reared seven children, as follows: Marian, de- 
ceased; Helen, wife of John Follick; Mar- 
garet, who married William Wearman ; Bet- 
sey, wife of Thomas I'ollick; Ann; Kate; 
and Angeline, now Mrs. Terpening. 

Mr. and Mrs. Terpening have one son, C. 
P'rederick Terpening, M. D. He completed 



loS 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



his early education in the graded schools of 
Middleburg, studied medicine for a year with 
Dr. Kifenberg, and then entered the Univer- 
sity Medical College, New York City, class of 
1898. After receiving his diploma, he en- 
tered the Hlackvvcll's Isle Hospital, where he 
will graduate in 1900. 




l^-NAKKh: C. LI-:MMAN, of the firm of 
Lehman lirotiiers, dealers in general 
merchandise and farming implements 
at Argusvillc, in the town of Carlisle (for- 
merly a part of Sharon), Schoharie County, 
N.Y. , was born in tliis iilace on April 3, 
1869, son of S\l\-ester and Mary Ann (Lane) 
Lehman. 

His great-grandfather Lehman came to 
America with Burgoyne's army, having crossed 
the F.nglish channel with other Germans, and 
joined the British soldiery before leaving luig- 
land. After arriving in this counti)' he de- 
serted from the army, and settled in Sharon, 
where he was one of the first white inhabi- 
tants. It is related that he wore a metal 
breastplate which he brought over with him, 
antl that this at one time saved his life by pro- 
tecting him from a bullet. He remained in 
.Sharon as long as he lived, engaged in farm- 
ing. He spoke only the Cerman tongue. 

His son Benjamin,^ grandfather of Parke C. 
Lehman, was born here, ami always resided 
here until his death at the age of eighty years. 
Like his fatlier he was chxsel)- iilentified with 
the Lutheran church. He worked at his tiade 
of carpenter, and he alscj farmed to s(ime ex- 



tent. He settled at what is now known as the 
Lehman homestead, on which his grandson 
Charles now resides. This pro|)erty contained 
originally three hundred antl fifteen acres. 
Benjamin Lehman built most of the barns and 
houses in this vicinity. He untlerwent many 
hardshi])S. While working at Stone Arabia, 
some thirteen miles distant, he would rise 
early in the morning on Mondax', travel the 
whole distance on for)t, and lie on liLind in time 
for his day's work. On Saturday night he 
walked home again. During his absences the 
farm was cared for by his sons, of whom there 
were four. Each of these upon being married 
was gi\'en a plot of land and a fair start in 
life. Benjamin Lehman had four wives. His 
sons were: Stephen, who is tlie only one now 
living, Charles, Peter, and -Silvester. Both 
Charles and Peter were married, and the latter 
had a famil\- of children. Peter tiled in 
Brooklyn, N.Y. Benjamin Lehman spnke the 
German language and Intiken I*>nglish. 

Sylvester Lehman, father of Parke C, was 
a lifelong farmer on his hundred and seventy- 
five acres, raising mi.xed crt)ps. He w-as also 
engaged to a considerable extent in stock- 
raising, breeding short-bornetl cattle, which 
farmers from all the neighboring towns came 
to [lurchase. He was an ardent worker in the 
church, anil held at one time antl another 
nearlv all the church offices. Of liis famil\- of 
nine chiltlren, the eldest, Ja}', tlied in infancy. 
The others were as follows: Mai'}', who is the 
wife of W'illicun Crosby, M.D., of Rochester, 
Intl. ; Charles, abo\e nametl, who resitles on 
the Lehman htimestead ; Jessie, who died at 




THOMAS E. FKRKIKK. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



the age of twenty-six; Romaine, who is a 
farmer of Sharon, N. Y. ; Sylvester, Jr., who 
is a member of the firm of I.ehman I^rothers; 
Parke, the subject of this article; P'orcl, who 
is a student in the classical course at Penn 
College, Gettysburg; and Bessie G. Sylves- 
ter Lehman, Jr., married Kate Allen, daugh- 
ter of James Allen, of Root, N. Y. Bessie G. 
Lehman was married in December, 1897, to 
Lewis C. Berger, of Seward, N. Y. 

Parke C. Lehman in his boyhood attended 
the district schools in company with his 
brothers and sisters, and subsequently worked 
out at farming. After saving a small amount 
of money he went to Albany, where he took 
a course in the business college. Subsequent 
to that he was clerk for four years for J. P. 
Milligan; and at the expiration of that time, 
or in September, 1893, he formed a partner- 
shij) with his brother Sylvester, and bought 
out the business of Mr. Milligan. This firm 
has done a most prosperous business. Their' s 
being the only general merchandise store in 
Argusville, they have a large trade, and, as 
their business methods are prompt and thor- 
oughly hnniirable, they are popular, and have 
the fullest confidence of their patrons. Many 
changes have been made in the store since 
Lehman Brothers took possession of it. 

Parke C. Lehman was appointed Postmaster 
on May 6, 1898. He had previously served as 
Deputy Postmaster. In politics he is a Ke- 
|iublican. ]?oth brothers are Masons and 
members of Sharon Springs Lodge, No. 624. 
Botli are active in politics, and prominent in 
church work. Parke C. Lehman is secretary 



of the Su.iday school and of the church 
council. 

Parke C. Lehman married on June 16, 1898, 
Miss Lilah Wemple, of P^juda, N.Y. , she 
being a daughter of one of the first families (jf 
Montgomery County. 




& 



MOMAS E. FP:KRIKR, one of the rep- 
resentative business men of Catskill, 
was born in the town of Warwick, Orange 
County, N.Y. , on April 15, 1821, son of Jo- 
seph and PLinnah W. (P^d.sall) P^rrier. Ac- 
cording to the best information obtainable his 
first progenitors in this CDuntry were P^rcnch 
Huguenots, who during revolutionary (.r relig- 
ious disturbances in' F'rance emigrated to Ire- 
land and thence to America. 

His great-grandfather was Thomas P^'erricr, 
who was born in 1705, and died in 1792. 
This Thomas removed frt)m Connecticut to 
Orange County, New York, settling near 
Amity. His wife, whose name in maidenhood 
was Hester Lucky, died in 1796. Their fam- 
ily consisted of three daughters and one son — 
Sarah, Hester, Jane, and Robert. Sarah mar- 
ried David Perkins, Hester married Benja- 
min Carpenter, and Jane became the wife of 
William Owens. 

Robert P\>rrier, who was the grandfather of 
Thomas E., and who succeeded to the posses- 
sion of the homestead farm, was born in 1762, 
and died in 1822. He married Mary Wilcox, 
saiil to have been of German ancestry, who was 
born in 1764, and died in 1836. Tbe\' iiad a 
family of ten children, namely: William, born 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in 17S6, who died in 1873; Anna, Ijorn in 
1788, who died in 1858; Joseph (father of the 
subject of tiiis sketch), l)orn in 1791, who died 
in 1871; Thomas, born in 1793, who died in 
1839; David, who was born in 1795; Hester, 
liorn in 179S, wlio died in 1889; Klizabeth, 
who was born in 1800; Robert, born in 1802, 
wliodied in 1872; Michael J., who was born in 
1805; and Sarah M., l)orn in 1807, wlio died 
in 1821, at the ai;e of fourteen years. WMll- 
iam niairied Hannah Samons, and settled at 
Ypsilanti, Mich. Anna married Daniel 
Nanny, and settletl in the town of Warwick, 
N.Y. Joseph married Hannah W. Edsall, and 
.settled in the town of Warwick, N.Y. Thomas 
marrietl Sarah Dennison, and settled on the 
I<"erricr homestead. David married Eliza Cain, 
and settled first in Yates County, New York, 
whence he removed subsequently to Sunbury, 
Delaware County, Ohio. Hester became the 
wife of .Samuel Conklin, and settled in ^'ates 
CountN', New York. Elizabeth married David 
Carr, and settled at Wantage, Sussex County, 
N.J. Robert m.irricd Emily Tobey, and set- 
tled at Dundee, Yates County, N.Y. Michael 
J. married Mar)- Ann Neighbor, and went to 
leside at Swartswood, Sussex County, N.J. 

Jose|)h Ferrier, who was brought up to 
a'.jricultural life, settled on a farm adjoining the 
homestead. His wife, in maidenhood Hannah 
W. Edsall, was of 1-jiglish ancestry. They 
reared the following children : John M., born 
in 1816, married !■" ranees Coleman in 1841, 
and died in 1843 as the result of an ac- 
cident. Sarah M., born in 181S, who married 
Matthew Hailey in 1840, after his death be- 



came the wife of James Thompson in 1862, died 
August 10, 1899. Thomas E. , born in 1821, 
is the subject of this sketch. Louisa, born 
in 1S24, married Cornelius J. Jones in 1845, 
and after . his death married for her sec- 
ond husband William Walling. She died in 
1858. Almira, born in 1827, married Cor- 
nelius J. Laziar in 1844, and is still living. 
Edsall, Ijorn in 1831, married Anna M. Hum- 
mel in 1859, and is now one of the faculty 
of Lafayette College at Easton, Pa. Robert, 
born in 1835, married Cecelia D. Jones, and 
died in 1877. 

Thomas E. Ferrier when in his fifleenlh 
year left home and went to P^clenville, where 
he remained two and a half years, working in a 
country store. He then attended the district 
school for a year, after which he taught school 
for a year at Hellvale in the town of Warwick. 
Then, returning home, he was emjdoyed dur- 
ing the summer of 1S40 on his fatlu-r's farm. 
In the fall of thai year he left home for a trip 
through the West with the view of gaining a 
knowledge of the country anil of possibly find- 
ing a desirable place in which to settle. Rail- 
roads were few in those days ; and much or 
most of his journey was made by steamboat, 
cmal, or stage. Going to Newliurg, he trav- 
elled by steamboat to .Albany, and thence to 
Buffalo by way of the Eric Canal. After 
spending a da_\- or two at IJuffalo and Niagara 
P'alls, he went by steamboat on Lake Iirie to 
Cleveland, Ohio, and thence by canal to Colum- 
bus, Ohio. Then, after sta}ing a few days w'ith 
an uncle at Sunbury, he took the stage from 
Columbus to Dj}toii, and from tliere travelled 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



113 



by canal to Cincinnati. From that place he 
went by steamboat on the Ohio River to Louis- 
ville, Ky. , where he stopped for a few days, 
and then went by boat down the Ohio to the 
Mississippi and up that river to St. Louis, 
Mo., in whicli city he remained for two weeks. 
From St. Louis he went on up the river to 
Quincy, 111., and after looking about in that 
neighborhood for a week or two he took a 
school in Pike County, which he taught until 
the following spring. He then returned home 
by way of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to 
Pittsburg, and through Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey, partly by canal and partly by rail, to 
New York City, and thence to Nevvburg by 
boat, arriving home in April, 1S41. He then 
resumed work on his father's farm, following 
that occupation during the summer and teach- 
ing school in the winter in the neighboring 
school districts. In 1845, when in his twenty- 
fifth year, he was married to Pllizabeth, daugh- 
ter of John W. and Dorothy Wheeler (Rogers) 
Vandererf, and settled on a farm of ninety 
acres, adjoining his father's, which had for- 
merly formed a part of his grandfather's home- 
stead. Here he followed an agricultural life 
for twenty years. Then, selling out, he re- 
moved to Catskill, N.Y., where, in company 
with his brother Robert, who had preceded 
him to that place by about five years, he en- 
gaged in the maiuifacture of brick. Shortly 
afterward they enlarged their sphere of opera- 
tions by engaging in building in Brooklyn, 
N.Y., Robert removing to New York to look 
after their interests there, while Thomas re- 
mained at Catskill to superintend the manu- 



facture and shipping of the bricks. After the 
great financial panic of 1873, which proved 
very disastrous to tlieir building operations, 
Robert returned to Catskill in very poor 
health, and soon afterward died. Thomas, hav- 
ing jjreviously [lurchased his brother's interest 
in the brickyard and other property, continued 
to carry on business alone until 1882, when he 
took his son-in-law, Percival Golden, into part- 
nership; and the firm has since been conducted 
under the name of Ferrier & Golden. Mr. 
Ferrier has been a director of the Catskill 
National Rank for the last twenty years or more, 
and is now vice-president of that institution. 
He is president of the Catskill Building and 
Loan Association and treasurer of the Catskill 
Rural Cemetery Association. He is also 
largely interested in the Catskill Knitting 
Mill, owning a three-eighths interest, which 
concern, one of the largest and most important 
in the town, gives employment to from one 
hundred and fifty to one hundred and si.xty 
hands. 

Mr. Ferrier is a Republican in politics. In 
1885 he was elected Supervisor of the town, 
and, being subsequently re-elected to the same 
office, served therein for five years. He also 
was elected County Treasurer, in which office 
he served three years, declining a renomination 
on account of advancing age, he being then in 
his seventy-fifth year. In religion a Presl^yte- 
rian, he has been for a number of years a trus- 
tee and Elder of the church of that denomina- 
tion in Catskill. His reputatitm is that of a 
business man of more than average ability and 
of the strictest integrit)', and also that of a eit- 



114 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



i/A'i) who lias rendered useful service to the 
town and whose aid and influence can always 
be counted upon in favor of any practical meas- 
ures for the moral or ])hysical betterment of the 
conimunitN'. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ferrier have been the parents 
of three children, namely: Hannah Elizabeth, 
born in May, 1S49, who married in 1872 
Hiram W. Lane, and has one child, Herbert 
A. Lane, born in 1870; Willis Wentworth, 
born in October, 1 850, who died in 1871, as 
the result of an accident; and IMary Wheeler, 
born in 1854, who married Percival Golden in 
1875, and has had four children — Lizzie F. 
Golden, born in 1S76, who died in 1885, Wil- 
lis P. Golden, born in 1S82, May Marshall and 
Mabel French Golden, twins, born in 1887. 



Is 



[^OAH DIBBLE WEST, a well-known 
apiarist of Middleburg, N.Y., is one 
of the largest honey producers of 
Schoharie County antl with but two excep- 
tions the largest in the entire State, if not in 
the Union. He was born March 5, 1845, in 
the neighboring town of Gilboa, the birth- 
place ol his father, David West, Jr. His 
great-grandfather West, who came, it is be- 
lie\-ed from l''ngkuul, was one of the original 
settlers of (iilboa, whither he removed from 
Connecticut in Colonial times, coming here 
when the country was a wooded wilderness and 
rearing the small log cabin in which he and 
his family first found shelter. 

David West, Sr. , the grandf.Uher of Noah 
D., spent the larger part of his threescore and 



ten years in (jilboa, where he was one of the 
leading farmers and a citizen of influence. 
Pos.sessing considerable legal knowledge, he 
transacted law business to some extent for his 
neighbors, bv whom he was highly esteemeil. 
At his death he left his widow, whose maiden 
name was Rachel Ward, with four children — 
Orman West, Julia .Ann, David, and William. 
She subsequently married again, and by her 
second husband, George Hugh.son, had four 
sons — John C, George, Cephas, and Robert. 
John C. Hughson left home at the earl)- age of 
sixteen \-ears, and after working out for a few- 
years he became interested in the lumber busi- 
ness. He died a millionaire. 

David West, Jr., was born September 27, 
1813, and died June I2, 1883. He was reared 
on a farm, and was engaged in agricultural 
jiursuits to a greater or less extent during his 
entire life. Having a natural ajDtitude for 
mechanics, he also worked at the carpenter's 
trade in his early manhood. Purchasing a 
tract of woodland, he cleared a s]iace, 011 which 
he built his first dwelling, and in a few years 
he erected a fine set of other frame buildings. 
Thereafter he attended to the cultivation of his 
land imtil his death, at the age of sixty-nine. 

Lie married March 20, 1840, Celinda Dib- 
ble, daughter of Noah and .Abigail (Crippen) 
Dibble. Her ])aternal grandparents were Dan- 
iel anti Lois (Pomeroy) Dibble, the grand- 
mother the daughter of Daniel Pomeroy, a 
Revolutionary soldier. The parents of Ce- 
linda Dibble had ten chiklren, three of w-honi 
survive, namel)' : Jane, born in 1820; .Abi- 
gail, born in 1822; antl .\manda, born in 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



"S 



1826. Noah Dibble, who served as a soldier 
of the War of 1812, was a carpenter in Mid- 
dlebiirg, and well known throughout this sec- 
tion as a builder of saw-mills, which he made 
a specialty. He died at the age of seventy-six 
years. Mrs. Abigail Dibble died on Septem- 
ber 12, 1S69, aged seventy-nine years, six 
months, and nine days. In religion she was 
a Baptist. David West, Jr., and his wife, 
Celinda, were also members of the Baptist 
church. Of their union but one child was 
born, Noah D., the special subject of this 
biography. The mother was born on February 
23, 1 817, anil died May 17, 1893, at the age 
of seventy-si.x years. 

As mentioned above, Daniel Pomeroy, her 
grandmother Dibble's father, great-great- 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was 
a soldier of the American Revolution. He 
was under Washington, and it is related that 
the General on parting ga\e him his cane as 
a keepsake. This cane Daniel Pomeroy gave 
to his daughter Lois (Mrs. Daniel Dibble), 
with the request that she should hand it down 
to her eldest son, Noah Dibble, to be always 
kept in the Dibble family, held by the eldest 
son of each succeeding generation. P'rom 
Noah Dibble the Washington cane passed to his 
eldest son, Ichabod Dibble, brother of Ce- 
linda; from Ichabod to his eldest son, Sylves- 
ter; and at the death of Sylvester, leaving no 
son, it came into the possession of his brother, 
Jesse Dibble, its present owner, who is a cou- 
sin of Noah Dibble West, the sjiecial subject 
of the present biography. 

Noah D. West grew to manhood on the 



home farm in Gilboa. At the age of twenty 
he commenced teaching school, and he was 
thus employed in his native town for ten 
terms. He also assisted in the management of 
the home farm until attaining his majority, 
when he took possession of a few of its acres, 
and turned his attention to the culture of bees, 
an industry in which he had been interested 
from boyhood. Ten years later he bought his 
present farm of ten acres, located two miles 
from the village of ^liddleburg, on the road to 
Catskill. Here he has continued his chosen 
work, from year to year enlarging his opera- 
tions. 

After his parents' death he came into full 
possession of the old farm of one hundred 
twenty acres, formerly owned by himself and 
father together; and since the death of his 
father he has bought and now owns three ad- 
joining farms, including in all four hundred 
acres. All this land, then covered by a dense 
forest, was once the property of his grand- 
father, David West. 

In his five bee yards Mr. West has five hun- 
dred swarms of bees, which produce annually 
from eight to ten tons of honey. This he sells 
in the Jeading cities of New York and New 
PZngland at the highest market price. He has 
made a special study throughout his life of bees 
and their habits, and in his efforts to obtain the 
best results from bee-keeping at the least possi- 
ble cost he has invented and patented a spiral 
wire cjueen-cell protector and a spiral wire 
queen-cage, which have proved of great value. 
Although these inventions have been before the 
public but 3 little more than seven years, they 



ii6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



are in dcmaiul throughout the United States, in 
Canada, in luigland — in fact, in all parts of 
the world ; and he is carrying on a very substan- 
tial business as the sole manufacturer of these 
articles. For three successive years he was 
chosen, and paid, to act as judge on the differ- 
ent races of bees and of honey, bee appliances 
and bee literature, at the New England fairs 
held at Albany, on which occasions a large va- 
riety of apiarian goods was displayed and large 
jjremiunis awarded. On Jul)- i i, 1899, he 
received the appointment of bee inspector for 
the State of New York. 

He is a Republican and a Prohibitionist in 
politics and an active member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church, in which he has been 
class leader, a teacher, and the superintendent 
of its Sunday-school. 

Mr. West married June 23, 1867, Sarah A. 
llaskin. She is a daughter of Joshua Haskin 
and a grand-daughter of Moses and Hanah 
(Ilait) Haskin, natives of Dutchess County. 
Her grandparents were pioneer settlers of 
Broome, N.Y. They reared fifteen children, 
one of whom is yet living, Joshua. The 
grandmother was a Ouaker in her religious be- 
lief. Joshua Haskin was engaged in farming 
in Hroome until 1871, when he removed to the 
town of .Maine, Broome County, where he has 
a fine farm of one himdred acres. Formerly 
a Democrat in [jolitics, he has been identified 
with the Republican party since the Rebell- 
ion. He has served as Assessor and as Over- 
seer of the Poor. He married Deborah A. 
Hughson, daughter of Nicholas and Charlotte 
(Duncan) Hughson, formerly of Broome, but 



later of Norwich, Chenango County. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hughson had ten children, of whom four 
are living, namely: Deborah A., now Mrs. 
Haskin; Hiram Hughson; Jane, wife of John 
DeMoney ; and Charlotte, wife of Charles M. 
Markcl. Of the seven children born to Joshua 
Haskin and his wife these five are living: 
Sarah A., now INIrs. West; Edwin S. ; Gros- 
venor ; Alice I{. , wife of Dr. Dudley; and 
Hiram A. All except Mrs. West reside in 
Broome County, and all, with their parents, 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

j\Ir. and Mrs. West have eight children; 
namely, Orman, Ruth A., ICdwin H., 1-Ilma 
A., David J., Alice C, Charles D., and Hat- 
tie D. The four younger are still in school. 
Orman M., a graduate of Middleburgh .Acad- 
emy and Union College, was formerly a school 
teacher, was graduated at the Drew Theologi- 
cal Seminary, and is now preaching in Port 
Colden, N.J. He married Dora Dornian, and 
they have one son, Dorman. Ruth married 
Delos H. Gridley, formerly a teacher, farmer, 
and bee-keeper, later a student at Drew Theo- 
logical Seminary, now preaching at Speeds- 
ville, N.Y. They have one son, Vernon 
J. Mrs. Gridley was vice-president of the 
Women's Christian Temperance Union at 
Madison. N.J. Edwin H. West married 
Sophia M. Shafer. He was in his earlier 
years a farmer, interested in bee culture, also 
a teacher; and after his graduation from the 
Middleburg High School he was for a time a 
clerk in Schenectady, a position which he 
resigned to become a member of the police 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



117 



force in New York City. Klma A., formerly 
a teacher in the public schools, is the wife of 
Elmer II Wood, of Broome, and has one son, 
Howard C. Mrs. West is a member of the 
W. C. T. U. ; and she and all of her children 
are active members of the Methodist Episcojial 
church and of the Sunday-school, in which all 
the elder children have been teachers. 



OHN M. CONOVER, a descendant of 
an old Dutch family of repute and a 
representative farmer of Duanesburg, 
Schenectady County, N.Y. , was born in Glen, 
Montgomery County, this State, December 26, 
1839, son of George W. and Sarah M. (Rad- 
ley) Conover. The father was born in Elor- 
ida, N. Y. , in 181 2, and the mother was born 
in the same town in iSiS. The name was 
originally Van Couwenhoven, and was short- 
ened to its present form prior to the birth of 
the great-grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch. Its bearers were prominent among the 
early Dutch families, and contemporaneous 
with the \'an Rcnsselaers, Van Beekmans, and 
other Knickerbockers. The immigrant pro- 
genitor was one Wolfret Garretson Van Cou- 
wenhoven, who came from Amersfoort, in the 
province of Utrecht, in 1630, and settled in 
Rensselaerwyck. He was employed by the 
Van Rensselaers as superintendent of farms for 
si.\ years; and in June, 1636, he with others 
purchased a large tract of land at the western 
end of Long Island. His sons were: Gerrit, 
Jacob, Derrick, Peter, and John. 

Cornelius V. Couwenhoven, the great-great- 



grandfather of Mr. Conover of Duanesburg, 
was born in 17 10, and died in 1S04. He 
had seven children; namel)', Jnhn, William, 
Peter, Jacob, Jane, Abraham, and Isaac, the 
great-grandfather. Isaac Conover was born 
I'ebruary 1 i, 1759. He served as a soldier in 
the Continental army during the Rex'olution- 
ary War, and died September 21, 1845, leav- 
ing several children, among others Marcus, the 
grandfather, who was born in New Jersey, Oc- 
tober II, 1786. Marcus Conover was an early 
settler in P'lorida, N. Y. , where he engaged in 
farming, and was a leading resident of that 
town. His last days were spent in Illinois, 
and he died in June, 1844. He married Sarah 
L. Schuyler, who was born February 19, 1794, 
and died in June, 1845. 

George W. Conover, son of Marcus, was 
reared in LTorida, N.Y,, and received his 
business training as clerk for his uncle, John 
J. Schulyer. Later he was admitted to part- 
nershij), and for several years the firm carried 
on a general store in Amsterdam, N.Y. Re- 
lincjuishing business on account of failing 
health, he took a protracted journey by team 
with Funis I. Van Derveer, through Penns)l- 
vania, C)hio, Indiana, and Illinois, passing 
through Chicago when it was but a village, 
and driving as far West as the Mississippi 
River. He returned to his native State in the 
same manner, much benefitted in health, and, 
resuming mercantile business in Auriesville, 
Montgomery County, he remained there until 
1850. Selling his store, he invested in real 
estate both in this State and the West, ami, 
l)urchasing in 1859 '^''"-' t-'im i'l Duanesburg, 



Hi 



BIOGRAPHICAL RFA^IEW 



which his son now owjis, lie devoted tlic rest 
of his active jjcriod to agricultural pursuits. 
In jiolitics he originally acttxl with the Whigs, 
and with the majority of that element he went 
into the rnnks of the Republican |)arty at its 
formation. George \V. Conovcr died in 1894. 
( )ii March 13, 1839, he married Sarah I\I. 
Radley, daughter of J hn I', and Anna (Clay- 
ton) Radley, of Florida, N.V. Her grand- 
father, Philip Radley, was an early settler in 
that town, and he lived to reach a good old 
age. The Radley farm was inherited by John 
P. Radley, who occupied it until his death, 
which occurred November 27, 1S62, his wife 
having died March 22, 1855. Mrs. Sarah 
Conover is still living, and resides at the 
homestead near the Scotch church. She 
reared but one son, John M., the subject of 
this sketch. 

John M. Conover was reared antl educated 
in Glen. .At the age of twenty-one he became 
associated with his father in carrying on the 
liome farm, and after his father's death the 
farm fell to his jiossession. It is one of the 
best pieces of agricuUui-al property in the 
neighborhood. Me grows all kinds of grain, 
cuts a large quantity of hay annually, raises 
some excellent cattle and horses, and displays 
good judgment in all his undertakings. His 
residence and outbuildings are exceedingly 
desirable. 

On October 5, 1S64, Mr. Conover married 
for his first wife Anna I?. Van Vechten, who 
was born in T'loricla, N.V., December 6, 
1845. She died March 12, 1884, leaving 
three children, namel}- : Archie R., born Sep- 



tember 23, 1866; Mabel, born May 13, 1874; 
and lulna, born May 20, 1877. .Archie R. 
Conover, who was graduated from Union Col- 
lege in 1889, is now a lawyer in Amsterdam. 
He married Jessie Dougall, and has one daugh- 
ter, Marion. Mabel is the wife of the Rev. 
I'". W. McKee, pastor uf the historic Scotch (or 
Uniteel Presbyterian) Church, Florida, N.Y. ; 
and Fdna is unmarried. On March 25, 1890, 
Mr. Conover married for his second wife Mary 
E. Smeallie, who was born in Princetown, 
N.Y. , F"ebruary ig, 1846, daughter of John 
and Jane (Milmine) Smeallie, the former of 
whom was a native of that place. Poth par- 
ents were born in 1816. 

Politically, Mr. Conover is a Republican. 
He has inherited many of the sterling charac- 
teristics of hi.s race, whose thrifty and indus- 
trious habits made possible the development of 
the vast resources and wealth for which the 
Empire State has long been noted, and he has 
every reason to be proud of his origin. He is 
a member of the United Pre.sbyterian Church 
of Florida, N.Y. 



(^Ij HOMAS J. KILMER, M.D., the well- 
e j| known physician of Schoharie, N.\'., 
was born in Cobleskill, this county, November 
22, 1833, son of Daniel and Maria (Shaffer) 
Kilmer. He is of German extraction, and a 
representat i\'e of the third generation of his 
family in this country, being the grandson of 
John I. Kilmer, a native of Germany, who 
settled in Cobleskill as a pioneer. 

John 1. Kilmer acquired a tract of lanil con- 




T. J. KILMKK. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



taining live hundred acres, a considerable por- 
tion of which he cleared for agricultural pur- 
poses. Commencing his farm life in a log- 
house, he later built a frame dwelling near the 
village of Barnerville; and through energy 
and perseverance he became one of the most 
prosperous farmers of Schoharie County in his 
day. Possessing intellectual powers of a high 
order, which had been developed by a good 
education, he became the owner of a large 
library, and fostered his desire for knowledge 
by continued reading. J-Seing of a religious 
turn of mind, he unitetl with the Lutheran 
church, and for years was one of its most ac- 
tive members. He lived to be ninety years 
old. He had a family of si.x children. 

Daniel Kilmer, the Doctor's father, was a 
lifelong resident of Cobleskill ; and, succeed- 
ing to the ownership of some three hundred 
acres of the homestead property, he became 
successful as a general farmer. He was pro- 
gressive as well as energetic, and not only kept 
up with the times in the way of agricultural 
improvements, but aitled in developing his 
neighborhood by the erection of buildings. 
His ability and sound judgment necessarily 
made him an influential factor in public 
affairs, and he rendered eflficient service to the 
town as Supervisor for some time. He died 
at the age of fifty years. His wife, Maria, 
was a daughter of John I. Shaffer, who at one 
time owned the land which is now occupied b}' 
the village of Cobleskill. She became the 
mother of thirteen children, of whom eleven 
are living, namely: Augustus; Josiah ; Mar- 
garet, wife of Elijah Griffin; Daniel A.; 



Thomas J., the subject of this .sketch; An- 
drew G. ; Sylvester A. ; Chauncey C. ; Jonas 
M. ; Aurelia, who married Napoleon Pal- 
matier; and Delia, wife of David I. Boock — 
all of whom reside in this State. Mrs. Maria 
S. Kilmer li\ed to be eighty-three years old. 
The parents were members of the Lutheran 
church. 

Thomas J. Kilmer acquiied a common-school 
education in his native town, and subsecpiently 
taught two terms of school in Cobleskill. He 
assisted in carrying on the home farm for a 
time prior to entering upon his medical 
studies, wdiicb were begun at Port Crane under 
his brother's direction. He was graduated 
from the Plclectic Medical College, New York 
Cit\', in 1874, and was afterward associated 
with his brother stjmc seven years, at the expi- 
ration of wdiich he came to Schoharie, where 
he practised successfully until 18S8. Estab- 
lishing the Kilmer Sanitarium, he continued 
in charge of that institution until failing 
health caused him to withdraw fiom its man- 
agement in 1893. His success at the sanita- 
rium, where patients are received from every 
part of the State, has given him a witle repu- 
tation as a skilful physician. Besides attend- 
ing to his jjrivate practice, which is the larg- 
est in town, he prejjares several effective 
remedies which have a large sale. 

In 1854 Dr. Kilmer was united in marriage 
with Elmina Pnlmitier, a nati\-e of this town, 
daughter of John II. Palmitier. Dr. and Mrs. 
Kilmer have had four children — Josiah, Ira 
P., Julia S , and Herbert. The last-named is 
no longer living. Josiah and Julia S. reside 



122 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



at home witli their parents. Ira V. mariied 
Joan Nethavvay, and has two cliilihen — Strat- 
ton and Mina. Herbert, who was a railroad 
man, left a widow and four ehildren — Ardaii, 
Noah, Josiah, and Herbert. 

Dr. Kilmer is a member of the Schoharie 
and Delaware Count}' Eclectic Medical So- 
ciety, of wliich for three )ears he has been a 
censor. He likewise belongs to the Masonic 
order. He was formerly a Deacon and a class 
leader of the Methodist I-'piscojial church at 
Port Crane, and the family are members of the 
same religious denomination in Schoharie. 



ff?)TAMAN P. PETTINGILL, of the firm 
of Malcolm & Co., woollen manufac- 
turers, Catskill, N.Y. , was born in 
P'liirida, Montgomery Count)-, this .State, on 
September 25, 1.S47, 'i'-'^ parents being David 
and Jeannette (McNee) Pettingill. His 
father's family is of English descent. 

David Pettingill, who was born and reared 
in the Mohawk \'alle)', was one of the original 
liromoters of the I'jie Canal, and rode on the 
first boat that passed over the waters of the 
canal after its completion. He carried on 
farming to some extent, and also was engaged 
in mercantile business in Amsterdam. He 
spent his last years in Amsterdam, his death 
occurring there at the age of sevenl\-three. 
His wife, Jeannette, w-as one of a family of 
ten children. .She was born in Schenectady 
County, this State. Her father, James Mc- 
Nee, was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. Im- 
migrating to this country, he lived lor a time 



in .Schenectadv County, and later in Montgom- 
ery County. He died in Montgomery Countv 
at eighty-eight years of age. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Maxwell, was of Scottish 
descent. David and Jeannette (McNee) Pet- 
tingill had eight children, namely: Agnes; 
Mary A., who is now Mrs. Millmine; Will- 
iam; Peter; lilla, who is now Mrs. Hager- 
man ; Harnan ; Louisa, now Mrs. Millmine; 
and Anna. The mother of these children died 
at the age of sixty-three. I^oth she and her 
husband were members of the Presbyterian 
church. 

llaman Pettingill attended the public 
schools until he was eighteen years of -age, 
when he began learning the machinist's trade, 
lie subsequently worked at his trade as a jour- 
neyman in Amsterdam, and later in West Al- 
bany at the locomotive works, and after that 
was seven years a knitter in the knitting-mill 
at Amsterdam. In 1882 he became a partner 
of Joseph Malcolm, a sketch of whom may be 
found in this work. The two men carried on 
a woollen-mill in Amsterdam for a time, and 
then removed to Catskill, the present compau)- 
being formed. Mr. Pettingill has charge of 
the machinery, which has all the latest im- 
provements. The firm manufacture men's, 
women's, antl childien's underwear, e\'ery 
piece jn'oduced bearing their special trade- 
mark. This maik is known to all experienced 
buyers as belonging onl\' to a good class of 
garments. About a lumdred and sevent)' 
hands are employed. 

Mr. Pettingill has been twice mairied. 
The maiden name of his first wife, who was 




STEl'lIEX L. MAllA.M. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



125 



bom in New York, was Margaret Morehead. 
They were married in 1877, and she died at 
the age of thirty-one. His present wife, 
whose maiden name was Isabel Lusk, was born 
in Coxsackie, being the daughter of Gilbert 
and Elizabeth Lusk. Mr. Lusk was for many 
years one of the well-known merchants of Cox- 
sackie, and later of Catskill. Of the second 
union one child has been born, Charlotte. 

Mr. Pettingill is a member of Catskill 
Lodge of Masons, No. 468. In politics he is 
a Republican. He is a member and trustee of 
the Presbyterian church, and Mrs. Pettingill 
is a communicant of the Episcopal church. 



7?)T0N. STEPHEN L. MAYHAM, of. 
Schoharie, former Presiding Justice 
fA the Supreme Court, General 
Term, Third Department, and an ex-member 
of Congress, was born in Blenheim, N.Y. , Oc- 
tober 8, 1826, son of John and Betsey (P'ergu- 
son) Mayham. He represents the third gener- 
ation of the family founded by his grandfather, 
Henry Mayham, who emigrated from Ireland 
in 1790. 

Acquiring a tract of four hundred acres of 
wiUl land, which embraced the site now occu_ 
pied by West Troy, N.Y. , and the Watervliet 
Arsenal, Henry Mayham cleared a portion for 
agricultural purposes and sold the remainder. 
He died at the age of ninety-three. His 
wife's family name was Welch. 

John Mayham, son of Henry, was a native 
of West Troy. Locating in Blenheim when a 
young man, he spent the rest of his life as a 



prosperous farmer, his death occurring at the 
age of sixty-five years. He took an active in- 
terest in political and religious matters, with- 
out aspiring to office, although he consented to 
serve as Supervisor, and faithfully performed 
the duties of that ofifice for several terms. He 
was highly respected by the entire community. 
His intellectual attainments enabled him as a 
public speaker forcibly to discuss the impor- 
tant issues of the day. He married Betsey 
Ferguson, daughter of John P'crguson. Her 
father was a native of Scotland. Coming to 
this countr}-, he settled at Pine Plains and 
later removed to Delaware County, where he 
died at an advanced age. John Mayham and 
his wife were the parents of twelve children, 
eleven of whom, seven sons and four daugh- 
ters, grew to maturit)-. Five sons became 
professional men. Thomas Mayham, M. D., is 
now Mayor of Fond du Lac, Wis. ; another son, 
who was a physician, died in that .State; a 
third was County Judge of Fond du Lac, and is 
no longer living; Stephen L. is the subject 
of this sketch; and the youngest son. Banks, 
who became a noted lawyer in Southern Illi- 
nois, died suddenly at Murphysboro, 111. The 
mother lived to be sixty years old. 

Stephen L. Mayham grew to manhood in 
Blenheim. As a youth he assisted in cultivat- 
ing tlie home farm when not pursuing his 
studies, and a local biographer has fittingly 
said that his education was accjuireti with a 
book in one hand and a plough-handle in the 
other. At the age of eighteen he started in 
life as a district school teacher. Two years 
later he entered the law office of Samuel Jack- 



126 



B I OG R A I^ H R " A L R FA' I FA\' 



son, who ;it that time was ](jcatcd in (lilboa, 
and afterward became Justice of the Supreme 
Court for the Fourth Judicial District. His 
legal preparations were completed in the ofifice 
of Love & Freer, Ithaca, N.Y. ; and after his 
admission to the bar, in 1S48, he l^egan the 
practice of his [irofession in l^lenheini. His 
ability as counsellor and attorney raiiidly as- 
serted itself, with the result that he soon found 
himself in control of a large general law busi- 
ness. His many qualifications, not the least 
among which was liis personal ]io|ndarity, 
made him espccialh' eligible to public office; 
and he was not long jiermittcd b)- his fellow- 
townsmen to devote his whole time to his pri- 
vate affairs. 

He .served as Superintendent of Schools two 
years and as Supervisor three years; was 
elected District Attorney in 1859 by a large 
majority, and held office two years. In the 
fall of 1862 he was elected to the Assembly. 
In 1866 he accepted as a forlorn hope the 
Democratic nomination for State .Senator from 
the l-'ifteenth District, comjirising the counties 
of Schenectady, Schoharie, and Delaware; 
and, although realizing his expected defeat, he 
had the satisfaction of reducing the Republican 
majority. In 186S he was elected to the 
Forty-first Congress in the Congressional dis- 
trict comprising Albany and Schoharie 
Counties, and in 1878 was elected Representa- 
tive to the I-'ort)-fifth Congress from the 
Thirteenth District, including the counties of 
Schoharie, (}reene, and Ulster. During his 
first term he served upon the Committees on 
Private Land Claims and the L.xiienditures of 



the State and Post-office Departments. In the 
Forty-fifth Congress he was assigned to the 
Committees on the District of Columbia and 
State Department Expenditures, and was chair- 
man of the Subcommittee on Ways and 
Means. His committee work in Ijotii sessions 
was laborious and efficient, and his record in 
the national House of Representatives was 
irreproachable. In 1883 he was elected 
County Judge and Surrogate of Schoharie 
County, a position which he held until aji- 
pointed bv Governor Hill to a seat upon the 
Supreme Pench ; and in X"\eniber, 1887, the 
peo]jle ratified the (iovernor's choice by elect- 
ing him for a full term. His decisions, which 
are carefully conceived, have been in perfect 
accord with legal requirements and generally 
sustained by the Court of Apjieals. 

Since 1862 the Judge has resideil in 
Schoharie. He was president of the Poard of 
Public Education for eight years, and was the 
first president of the Schoharie Valley Rail- 
road Company. Judge Mayham's scholarly 
attainments and aljility as a public siieaker 
have added mucli to his [xipularit}-, which ex- 
tends far beyond the limits of his own county. 
Since his retirement from the bench he ha.s 
been associated with his son Claude at Scho- 
harie in the active jiractice of his profession, 
and is often called upon to act as referee in 
important cases, his judicial experience having 
eminenlh' qualified him for such position. 

Judge Mayham married Julia Martin, a 
grand-daughter of Ceneral Frcegift Patch in, 
who served in the Continental Army during 
the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Mayham died 



RIOGRArHK'AL REVIEW 



n 



in 1895, aged sixty-four yenrs. She was the 
mother of three sons, F. Matt, Don S., 
Claude ]1, and one daughter, Ida L. , who is 
now the wife of George Manschaffer, of this 
town. F. Matt Mayham was a prominent 
lawyer. He died in Schoharie in 1889, aged 
thirty-nine years. Don S. Mayham studied 
law with his father; and, after serving for a 
time as clerk of the Surrogate Court, he en- 
tered the Albany Law School, from which he 
was graduated in 1888. He was admitted to 
the bar the same year, and practised with his 
elder brother until the latter's decease, when 
he entered into partnership with his younger 
brother. He was a Democrat in politics, and 
served as clerk of the State Senate in 1892. 
He married Mary V>. l^orst, daughter of 
Thomas Borst and grand-daughter of Ralph 
Brewster, a prominent la\\\er of this locality 
in his day. Dying in June, 1896, at the age 
of thirty-three years, Don S. Mayham left one 
son, Stephen L. Mayham, second. Claude B. 
Mayham was born in Schoharie in 1868. His 
early education was completed at the Schoharie 
Academy, where he taught for two years, and 
began the study of law with his brother. He 
was graduated from Columbia College in the 
class of 1 89 1, with the degrees of Bachelor 
of Laws and Bachelor of Philosophy, and 
was associated with Don S. ALayham until 
1896. For a short time he was in partner- 
.ship with Lyman S. Holmes, of Cobleskill, 
in Schoharie. While in college he was an 
all-round athlete and captain of the base- 
ball team. He was also president of the lead- 
ing literary society and a member of the Delta 



L^psilon fraternity, and he sang in the Glee 
Club. He takes a leading part in the literary 
and musical matters in Schoharie, and is one 
of the most popular young men in town. 



ISRAEL P. UTTP:R, a leading farmer 
and representative citizen of Oak Hill, 
Greene County, was born in this town, 
on a farm near his present residence, on the 
second day of December, 1829. He is a son 
of Bani Utter, and grandson of James, the an- 
cestor of the Utter famil)- of this county. 

James Litter was born in the State of Con- 
necticut. He came among the earl)' settlers 
to this section of New York, took up land, and 
built a log cabin, in which he lived for a num- 
ber of years. Shortly before his removal from 
Connecticut, he had served in the Continental 
army in the Revolution. His wife, whose 
name was Hannah, was born in Spencer, Conn. 
She came on horseback through the wilds, he 
walking beside her. Of the eight children 
born to her, none are living. She died at the 
advanced age of ninety-five, and her husband 
died at the age of ninety-three. Both were 
lifelong Presbyterians. 

Bani Utter, above named, was born in Oak 
Hill, not far from where his son now lives, 
and sjient his whole life here. He helped his 
father build a saw-mill. This mill was car- 
ried away by rising waters, and he subse- 
quently built another, which he operated for 
many years. He engaged in farming on the 
farm where he was born, and he helped to 
build the old Utter house, which, jjrevious to 



r28 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



its destruction 1)\- fire in 1S94, was one of the 
landmarks of the place. Bani Utter died in 
the old house at the age of seventy-four. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Cynthia Stan- 
nard, was the daugiiter of Eliakim Stannard, 
who was a pioneer settler in Durham, N. Y. , 
cominj,' from Connecticut. She died at 
seventy-eight years of age. Of her ten chil- 
dren, Alfred, Ruth, and L)man are deceased. 
Alfred was a soldier in the Ci\il War, and 
lost his life while in service. The living 
children are: Julia, now Mrs. W'hitmorc; Is- 
rael; Louisa, now Mrs. Taylor; Almeran ; 
Eliakim; Adelaide; and Addison. Both par- 
ents were Methodists. 

Israel Utter in his hoyhood attended the 
common schools of his nati\e town, and when 
not occujiied with his lessons helped his father 
on the farm. Later he woiked on the farm on 
shares for a time, but eventually he purchased 
the farm adjoining the one where he now lives. 
After ha\ing operated that successfully for a 
nundier of years, he bought his present place 
anti built his handsome residence and the other 
buildings. All these are thoroughly well 
built, and the barns and outbuildings are 
thoroughly equii)|)ed for carrying on farming 
in accordance with the latest and most ap- 
]"iroved methods. Mr. Utter now owns the two 
farms, embracing about two hundred and si.xty 
acres. lie devotes his time chiefly to dairy- 
ing, making butter for the New York markets. 

Mr. Utter's marriage took place in 1855, 
his wife being Caroline, the daughter of Jacob 
and Hannah (Niles) Tompkins. M|-. Tomp- 
kins spent his life on a farm in this town, and 



died here at the age of si.Nt\'-four. He and his 
wife were prominent members of the Meth- 
odist church, and he held numerous official 
i:)ositions in the church. Mrs. Tompkins, who 
was born in Coeymans, N. Y., lived to be 
ninety-three )ears of age. Of the children 
born to her, the following-named are living: 
Mary, who married Rufus Gifford; Ann, who 
married James Gifford; William, who is in 
California; Sarah, who married Alexander 
Lounsbur\' ; Mrs. Utter, who was born on 
June 12, 1834; Libbv, the wife of I'hilo 
Wicks; and Niles Tompkins, who resides on 
the Tompkins farm. 

Mr. and Mrs. Utter have had two children, 
one of whom died in inf:incy. Their daughter 
Alice married Elwin Haskins, onl)' son of 
farmer Henry Haskins of this town. She has 
five children — Dora, Utter, Henr\', Edison, 
and I'aul — all of them being now in school. 

In politics Mr. Utter is a Republican, as 
was his father before him. He takes not onl_\- 
a warm interest, but an active part in all mat- 
ters pertaining to the welfare of the town. 
For nine yeais he was an Assessor, being three 
times re-elected, and for one year he was 
chairman of tlie Board. In iS.Si and 18S2 he 
was Supervisor of the town. l"or thirty-five 
years he has Ijeen a member of the Methodist 
church, and for the past thirty \e;us he has 
been (Hie of its trustees, a steward, and class 
leader. The .Sunday-school has always had 
his warm and earnest support, and lie has been 
both teacher and superintendent. His wife 
;md daughter have a'so been workeis in both 
church and .Sunday-school, and the latter lias 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 



129 



sung in the choir and played the organ. Mr. 
Utter is one of the most esteemed citizens of 
his town. 



AMI'^S S. STALEY, a prosperous farmer 
of Sharon Springs, was born in Flor- 
ida, N. v., March 20, 1825, son of 
Henry I. and Sarah B. (McDonald) Staley. 
His maternal ancestors were Irish Protestants, 
and his mother came to America when she was 
four years old. The Staleys are of Dutch 
origin, and the name was originally spelled 
Stael. The first Stael, or Staley, in America, 
settled in P'lorida, when that section of the 
State was mostly a wilderness, and he resided 
there for the rest of his life. His wife's peo- 
ple, who came from Germany to New Jersey, 
sold her for a sum sufficient to pay for their 
passage over, and he worked to purchase her 
freedom. 

Jacob Staley, James S. Staley's grandfather, 
was a lifelong resident of Florida, and fol- 
lowed general farming during his acti\e years. 
He had a family of si.x children, including 
tienry, Valentine, Oliver, Betsey, and two 
other daughters. Betsey became .Mrs. Blood. 
Valentine and Henry succeeded to the owner- 
ship of the homestead, which contained about 
two hundred acres. Valentine afterward moved 
to Genesee, N. Y. Both the grandparents and 
great-grandparents were members of the Dutch 
Reformed church. 

Henry I. Staley, James S. Staley's father, 
was reared at the homestead in Florida. Pur- 
chasing his brother's interest, he cultivated 
the property for a number of years. Selling 



to his brother-in-law, Mr. Blood, and cominc: 
to Sharon Springs in 1833, he bought the J. 
Cady farm of one hundred and fifty acres, 
which he occupied until his death. He was a 
well-known stock-raiser, owned good horses, 
and was noted as an excellent judge of these 
animals. In politics he was a Democrat. 
Henry I. Staley died in 1S70. He was the 
father of ten children; namely, Jacob, Valen- 
tine, Fanny, Ann Eliza, William H., John, 
James S., Robert, Sarah, and Ale.xander. 
Fanny, William H., John, Robert, and Sarah 
are no longer living. Valentine resides at 
Sharon Springs; Alexander occupies the home- 
stead; Ann Eliza is the widow of William 
Othman, late of Cobleskill, N. Y. ; and Sarah 
was the wife of Peter Spraker. 

James S. Staley was fitted for college at the 
Ames Academy, but was prevented from jnn-- 
suing a classical course by an accident which 
seriously affected his eyesight. He was how- 
ever, enabled to turn his attention to educa- 
tional pursuits, and after teaching in the dis- 
trict schools of this locality for twelve years 
he went to New York City, where for four 
years he liad full charge of Leake and Watts 
Orphans' School, having the aid of three assis- 
tants. That position he was forced to resign 
in order to undergo treatment for his eyes. 
Having spent nine months under the care of 
a skilful specialist, he returned to Sharon 
Springs. He continued to teach school until 
1858, when he purchased the Hunt farm, 
which contains about ninety acres and was for- 
merly a part of his brother \'alentine's prop- 
erty. He was at one time quite extensively 



13° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



engaged in raising hops, but now devotes his 
attention to general and dairy farming and 
fruit-growing. Me acquired considerable 
prominence in public affairs during his 
younger days, serving as Sui)erintendent of 
Schools three years. Commissioner of High- 
ways two terms. Railroad Commissioner three 
years, and Supervisor one year. 

Mr. Staley married Ann E. Hodge, of the 
town of Canajoharie, daughter of Isaac G. 
Hodge. Her father was formerly a well- 
known figure in public affairs, and a leatiing 
member (jf the Methodist church, which he 
helped to organize. His family consisted of 
four sons and seven daughters. The daughters 
were all graduated from the Ames Academy 
and ciualitietl to teach. Mrs. Staley taught 
school for some years before marriage. Mr. 
and Mrs. Staley have one son, George E. He 
married Alinnie .Snyder, daughter of Nathan 
Snyder, and has two children — Earl and May. 

Mr. Staley belonged to a lodge of Odd Fel- 
lows that disbanded many years ago, and he 
has never joined another. He is a member of 
the Methodist Episcojial church, in which he 
has served as steward, class leader, and in 
other capacities. He is now a trustee, and 
superintendent of the Sunday-school, and a 
well-known worker in the cause of religion, 
temiierance, and morality. 



VcA;MI'I'1-'\M SALSHI'KGH, a prosper- 

V?V^ ""^ agriculturist of Il)'n(ls\ille, in 

the town of .Seward, .Schoharie Count\-, was 

born in Wright, N.Y., October 22, 1^35, in 



the same house in which his father, the late 
I'hili]i Salsbergh, first opened his eyes to the 
light of this world. He is of German ances- 
try, being a great-grandson of Jacob Sals- 
bergh, who emigrated from Germany to this 
country when a xoung man. 

Jacob .Salsbergh located in the town of 
Wright as one of its original settlers, ami took 
u]) a homestead of three hundred acres. At 
the time he reared his log cabin in the little 
opening which he first made in the forest, 
there were no paths excepting the Indian 
trails, and the redskins and the wild beasts 
were his onl\' companions. His wife, Win- 
ney, who lived to the remarkable age of one 
hundred and one years, was born in Germany, 
where she spent the first si.xteen years of her 
life. She came to ^America then, jxior in 
pocket, and for six years after her arrival in 
Fishkill, X. v., worked to jjay for her p.assage 
across the ocean. 

John .Salsbergh, the grandfather of William, 
was born in the little log house in the town of 
Wright in which his parents made their home, 
and on attaining his majority was given pos- 
session of a jjortion of the original farm. He 
there carried on agricultural iiursuits until 
well advanced in years, when he came to 
Seward, where he died at the ripe old age of 
eighty-four. His wite, Margaret .Sternbergh, 
died at the age of fourscore years. Both were 
members of the Reformed church. 

Their son, l'hili|) .Salsbergh, was one of a 
faniiU' of eleven children, all of whom w-ere 
brought up on the home farm, and educated in 
the disliict school. He inherited a portion of 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



131 



the estate, and was engaged in tilling the soil 
until 1840, when he removed to Seward, and, 
buying a farm, continued his chosen vocation 
until his death, at the age of eighty-five years. 
He was held in high respect as a man and a 
citizen, and was particularly active in manage- 
ment of the affairs of the Reformed church, in 
which he held all the offices. He married 
Catherine Woolford. Uf the ten children 
born into their household, eight are now liv- 
ing, as follows: Margaret, widow of Gilbert 
Shank; Rebecca W. , wife of Ira Frazier; 
John T. ; Catherine M., widow of Christian 
Markley; William, the subject of this brief 
sketch; Allen; Jemima, wife of Harlem 
Southworth ; and Amanda, wife of John Mark- 
ley. The mother passed to the life immortal 
at the age of seventy-eight years. 

William Salsbergh received a common- 
school education, and until his marriage 
worked on his father's farm. He then bought 
his present farm of eighty-seven acres. By 
dint of persevering labor and the exercise of 
good judgment he has made of it one of the 
finest-improved estates in this locality. The 
farm buildings are substantial and well 
adapted to the [nnposes for which they were 
erected. He carries on general farming with 
profitable results, each season raising good 
crops of hay and hops. At the Schoharie 
County Fair he has taken premiums for his ex- 
hibits. In politics he is a steadfast Re[nibli- 
can. He is interested in all enterprises tend- 
ing to benefit the town or county, but has 
never been an aspirant for public office. He 
is a liberal supporter of the Methodist Episco- 



pal church, of which he has been an active 
member for years, and has served faithfully as' 
trustee and class leader. He has also been 
identified with its Sunday-school, of which he 
has been superintendent a nimiber of terms. 

On July 2, 1856, Mr. Salsbergh married 
Kmeline Van Tyle, who was born in Seward, 
one of the five children of Daniel R. and Han- 
nah (Guernsey) Van Tyle, her father a promi- 
nent farmer, one of the most highly esteemed 
citizens of Richmondville. Mr. and Mrs. 
.Salsbergh have one child, a daughter Elva. 
She is married to Luther Brumaguem, and has 
four children — Stewart, Arthur, Ernest, and 
Floyd. By a former marriage to Lawyer O. 
Strander, Mrs. FAva Brumaguem has a son 
William. He has been adopted by his grand- 
father Salsbergh, and is now known as Will- 
iam Salsbergh, Jr. 




'rslICHAEL O'HARA, farmer and 
boarding-house keeper at Tanners- 
ville, N.Y., was born at Croton 
Landing, town of White Plains, Westchester 
County, N.Y. , February 7, 1850. His par- 
ents were John and Julia (Travers) O'Hara, 
his father a native of West Meath County, Ire- 
land, and his mother of Queen's County. His 
grandfather, Henry O'Hara, who was a farmer, 
spent his entire life in Ireland. 

John O'Hara came to America when about 
twenty years of age, arriving here during the 
construction of the Hudson River Railroad. 
He located at Croton Landing, and followed 
the trade of a brick-maker, which he had 



lUOGRAl'HlCAL REVIEW 



learned in ]-"nglancl. At the end of twenty- 
five years he removed from Croton Landing to 
Haines Falls, settling on a farm of one hun- 
dred and fifty acres. During his latter years 
he conducted a boarding-house. Politically, he 
was a Democrat. He died at the age of si.xty- 
nine. His wife, Julia, and four of their six 
children; namely, Henry, Michael, William, 
and Rosa, are still living, all residents of this 
town. The other two children were Julia and 
Mary. 

Michael O'Hara came to Haines Falls with 
his parents when si.x years of age, and was 
educateil in the common schools. At the age 
of sixteen he went to work on a farm, continu- 
ing there until his marriage in 1878, when he 
purchased a small farm of two acres, on w-hich 
he now lives. He erected all of the buildings 
here, and soon began to take summer boarders. 
The house is located one mile from Tanners- 
ville, on the road to Haines Falls, and is 
about the same distance from the latter place. 
It is called Tannersville Cottage, is situated 
on an elevation twenty-two hundred feet above 
sea level, and commands a view of the sur- 
rounding country. There are accommodations 
for thirty people, the rooms being usual!}- oc- 
cupied during the entire season. 

In 187S Mr. O'Hara married Mi.ss Flla T. 
Haskins, a native of Hunter, daugher of John 
and Mary (]\IcGinley) Haskins. Her father, 
who was a native of Ireland, came to America 
when a young man, and locating at Jewett en- 
gaged in farming in connection with the tan- 
ner's trade. He died there at the age of 
eighty-two. Mr. and Mrs. Haskins had a 



family of twelve children, six of whom are liv- 
ing; namely, Rosa, Mary, Elizabeth, Cather- 
ine, Jane, and Ella T. (Mrs. O'Hara). The 
mother died at fifty years of age. Mr. and 
Mrs. O'Hara have three children — Herbert, 
Mary Amelia, and John. 

]\rr. O'Hara is a Democrat in i)olitics. He 
has been on the Town Committee several 
years, serving as chairman part of the time, 
was a member of the County Committee a 
number of years, and a delegate to the Con- 
gressional Convention in 1S9S. He was Com- 
missioner of Highways six years, being first 
elected in 1893, re-elected in 1894 for two 
years, again in 1896, and serving until 1898. 
The family attend the Catholic church, in 
which they are actively interested. Mr. 
O'Hara has served as a trustee, was a member 
of the building committee, and contributes 
liberally toward its support. He believes that 
one of the best methods of educating his chil- 
dren is by providing them with good books, 
and his home contains a well-selected library. 
Mr. O'Hara at one time owned the Hunter 
Turnpike, which w^as later .sold to the town of 
Hunter and is now^ a free road. 



OHX A. GORDON, a prominent farmer 
anil business man residing in Carlisle, 
Schoharie County, was born in Root, 
N. Y. , February 20, 1840, son of Charles and 
Mary (Lyker) Gordon. The family is of 
Scotch origin. 

Mr. Gordon's grandfather, William Gordon, 
came to New York from New Jerse\' in 1802. 








JOHN A. CORDON. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



135 



Settling upon a tract of wild land in the town 
of Root, containing ninety-six acres, he cleared 
a good farm, upon which he resided for the rest 
of his life. He served as a soldier in the War 
of 1812, and for many years afterward he took 
an active part in military affairs. His chil- 
dren were: David; James; Peter; John; 
Charles; Gilbert; William, who died young; 
Lydia; Margaret. Six of his sons became 
prosperous farmers in this State and reared 
families. Gilbert Gordon was a physician, 
and for a number of years practised his profes- 
sion in Newark. 

Charles Gordon, the father of John A., was 
a native of New Jersey. Removing to Root 
with his father and the other members of the 
family at about the age of thirteen j'ears, he 
assisted in improving the homestead, which 
eventually came into his possession. He dealt 
quite extensively in cattle and sheep, sent 
large quantities of wheat to the Albany 
market, and was known as one of the most en- 
terprising and successful farmers of his day. 
At the time of his death, which occurretl June 
22, 1880, at the age of ninety-one years, he 
was one of the largest land-owners in town, 
his estate comprising six hundred acres. In 
politics he was a Democrat, but took no part 
in [lublic affairs beyond casting his vote. He 
was an active member of the Dutch Reformed 
church. His wife, Mary, became the mother 
of nine children, seven of whom lived to ma- 
turity, namely: Margaret; Gertrude; James 
H. ; Louisa; Elizabeth; John A., the subject 
of this sketch ; and Jane. Margaret married 
Charles Grantier, and is no longer living; 



Gertrude is the widow of Benjamin Albautrh, 
and resides in Carlisle; Louisa married Will- 
iam Colyer, and lives in Root; and Jane is the 
wife of Lorenzo Gardinier, of Root. Mrs. 
Mary L. Gordon died September 16, 1868. 

John A. Gordon was educated in the dis- 
trict schools of his native town. He resided 
at the parental home until his marriage, when 
he settled upon a farm of one hundred and ten 
acres in Carlisle given him by his father. He 
has since occupied a prominent place among 
the leading agriculturists of this town. He 
has increased his estate by purchasing more 
land from time to time, being now the owner 
of about three hundred acres, which he devotes 
to general farming. Although hop culture is 
largely carried on by the farmers of this local- 
ity, he has never engaged in it, as he considers 
the dairy business far more stable; and he 
realizes excellent results in that branch of 
agriculture. He owns a blacksmith shop and 
hardware store, was originally one of the prin- 
cipal stockholders in the cheese factory, and is 
now the sole owner. He also owns some valu- 
able real estate in Argusville. As a public- 
spirited citizen, he takes a lively interest in 
all movements calculated to promote the gen-, 
eral prosperity of the town. 

Mr. Gordon married for his first wife Annah 
E., daughter of Martin Gardinier. She bore 
him three children, namely: Minnie, a gradu- 
ate of the Clinton Liberal Institute, now 
organist at the Methodist Episcopal church; 
Ostrom, who died at the age of five years; and 
another child, who died in infancy. Minnie 
Gordon was married on October 26, 1898, to 



^3'o 



I'.IOCRAI'IIICAI, REVIF.W 



Henry Iv Tcrbusb, a wagon- maker of Carlisle 
village. l'"or his second wife Mr. Gordon 
married Sarah ]■]. Hill, daughter of Bradford 
Hill, a ])r(iniinent man of this section of the 
count)-. I'Miiyd !!., the only child born of 
this union, was drowned at the age of nine 
years. 

A Democrat, but not an active politician, 
Mr. Gordon has rendered good .service to the 
toivn ill a jnihlic cajiacit)', ha\ing filled the 
offices of Assessor and Trustee of the School 
District, and having acted as a Justice of the 
Peace for the past ten years. He is president 
of the Cemetery Association, was the first 
Master and is now a Trustee of Argusville 
Grange, No. 297, Patrons of Husbandry. He 
is officially connected with the Methodist 
l-Ipiscopal clunch, of which his wife and 
daufrhter arc members. 



"ClTnVlN 1.. b"()Rl), M.D. , a prominent 

J ph\'sician of Lexington, N.Y'., and 

a veteran of the Civil War, was born on the 
farm where he now resides October 13, 1842, 
son of David and Abigail (Faulkner) Ford. 
His paternal graudfalher, Joel b'uid, who was 
a nati\'e of Connecticut, came to Le.\ington 
with LUi ox-team, biinging his wife and three 
children, and making his way by the aid of 
marked trees. He began life here in a log 
cabin, and after clearing a tract of land built 
a frame house. He was the father of thirteen 
children, none of whom are living. 

Da\id I'ord, the Doctor's father, was a 



musician. He was the organizer and for fifty 
years the leader of Ford's String Hand, and 
was familiarly known as "Uncle Dave." In 
l)olitics he was a Democrat, and served as Ta.x 
Collector and Constable. He resided on the 
farm now occupied by his son, ami died at the 
age of eighty. His wife, Abigail, was a 
daughter of William I-'aulkner, an English- 
man. Her father was a shoemaker and farmer, 
and was prominenth' identified with political 
affairs, having been elected to Congress. 
Mrs. Abigail Ford died at the age of thirty- 
seven. She was the mother of three children, 
two of whom are li\ing, namely: Fdvvin L. , 
the subject of this sketch; and Jeanette, who 
married John P. Millci', of Jewett. The par- 
ents were members of the Pajnist church. 

Edwin L. Ford siient his bo)hood and xouth 
in assisting his father, and also in working by 
the month on farms near his home. In 1S62 
he enli.sted as a jjrivate in Com])any F, One 
Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, New York 
Volunteers, for service in the Civil War. 
Among the engagements in whicli he took part 
were the battles of Chancellorsville, P'reder- 
icksburg, Gettysburg, and Culpejjpcr. Pie 
was severely wounded at Gettsyburg, and was 
in the hosjiital three months. When convales- 
cent he was detailed as hospital nurse, and 
upon his recovery lie rejoined his regiment. 
He was taken prisoner at Mine Rim, and dur- 
ing his captivity was confined in l.ihbx- Prison, 
Pelle Isle, Ander.sonville, Savannah, and Mil- 
ler, (ki. , where he was exchanged. Resuming 
active duty, he participated in the battle of 
Platcher's Run and the siege of Petersburg, was 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'37 



present at Lee's .surrender, and was mustered 
out in fune, 1865. Decidiii};' to enter profes- 
sional life, he began the study of medicine 
with Dr. S. L. Ford, of West Kill, and later 
attended lectures at the Albany Medical Col- 
lege, from which he was graduated in 1868. 
Locating in Lexington, where he had already 
])ractised to some extent, he acquired a large 
and lucrative practice, and has faithfully dis- 
charged his duties as a ph)'sician for the past 
thirty years. IJeing the onl\' physician in 
town, he has a large local field of opera- 
tion, and his outside [iractice covers a wide 
circuit. 

In 1872 Dr. l-'ord married for his first wife 
Frances A. Cox, of Cambridgeport, Mass., 
daughter of the Rev. Leonard Cox, who was 
a graduate of Harvard University and a Baptist 
minister. Mr. Cox at one time preached in 
Lexington, but is now a resident of \'irginia. 
Of this union there were two children, neither 
of whom is living. Dr. F\)rd's first wife died 
at the age of forty, and in 1887 he married for 
his second wife Annie L. Dunham, of Lexing- 
ton, daughter of the late Aaron B. and Mary 
(15onestell) Dunham. Of this union there are 
two children — Fdwin and Flhel. 

Dr. Ford is a member of the Greene County 
Medical Society, and is Medical Examiner for 
the Phceni.x, Mutual, Equitable, and other in- 
surance companies. Lie belongs to the Grand 
Army of the Republic and the Knights of 
Pythias. Politically, he is a Democrat. He 
was Town Physician and a member of the 
Board of Health several years. He and his 
family attend the Baptist church. 




\C4^/ILLIAM GRANBY, a carpenter and 
builder of Blenheim, and at the 
present time a membjr of the Board of Sujier- 
visors from this town, was born here on No- 
vember I, 1868, son of Alexander and Julia 
(Kellogg) Granby. 

Richard (iranby, his great-grandfather, who 
was a native of Ireland, came to this country 
during the war of the Revolution, and joined 
the Colonial army, in which he subsequently 
rendered valiant .service. After peace was de- 
clared, he came to Blenheim and settled on the 
farm about a mile from the present village, 
which is now owned by William Granby, liis 
mother, brother, anti his sister. Here he died 
in old age. 

Richard's son William, first, grandfather of 
the [jresent William Granb)', was a nati\e of 
Blenheim. He engaged in farming and in tlie 
lumber business, and also worked as a cooper. 
He was a very prominent citizen in the town, 
and served as School Overseer and in other 
public capacities. He was one of the leaders 
in the movement to build the Methodist 
church, and held the offices of class leader and 
steward in that body. Hisde.ith occurred at 
the age of eighty-eight. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Susan Badgely, was a native 
of Coeymans. Their children were: Alexan- 
der, William, George, Jane, Ellen, and three 
others that died young. The mother died at 
the age of eighty-eight, after sixty-five years 
of happ_\- marrieil life. 

Alexander Granby, father of the third Will- 
iam, engaged in mercantile business in early 
life, but later learned the cooper's business, 



138 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ami worked at that witli farming during tiie 
remainder of his life. He was well l<miwn 
and highly respected in these parts, and was 
very successful in all his business ventures. 
Politically, he was a Keiniblican, and was 
Town Clerk antl Assessor for some years. He 
ilied at the age of si.\t)--five. He is survived 
by his wife, Julia, and their three children, 
namely: Arthur, who resides on the Granby 
homestead; Susie, who married John R. Berg, 
of New York; and William. Mrs. Granby is 
li\-ing in New Ynvk with her daughter. .She 
was born in Carthage, Jefferson C'ounty, 
daughter of John Kellogg, a shoemaker and 
dealer of that place. Her parents had a large 
family of children. 

William Granbx', the subject of this sketch, 
grandson of the first Williani, attended the 
public schools of the town until about thirteen 
years of age, and during the ne.xt ten years 
gave his attention to farming. Then for some 
five years he worked at carpentering, though 
he still resided on the homestead farm. The 
estate originally comprised a hundred aiul forty 
acres, and of this he inherited a third. He 
was especially interested in dairying, finding 
his markets in Albany and in New York. 

Mr. Granby has shown his interest in the 
welfare of the coinnninity b\' his attendance on 
the countv con\-eiit ions every year, e.xcei-iting 
one, since he became a voter. In 1893, ha\ing 
been elected Town Clerk, he moved into the 
village, where he has since resided. He de- 
clined the nomination for the clerk's office for 
a second term, but became candidate for 
Sheriff in the county on the Republican ticket. 



Although defeated, he ran far ahead of the 
ticket, and had the satisfaction of carrying his 
own town, usually Democratic, by eighty-si.K 
votes. He made the greatest run ever made 
ft)r the office by a Republican candidate. He 
has twice declined the nomination for the 
oflfice of Supervisor, but in iS9tS was elected to 
that office for a term of two years. No better 
representative could have been sent, and he 
has the hearty support of his townspeople. 
Mr. Granby is a member of the Odd Fellows 
Order, and at present Noble Grand. Shortly 
after he joined the organization, two years ago, 
he was chosen permanent secretary. As a 
musician, Mr. Granby has acquired considera- 
ble local reputation. For many years he has 
been leader of the choir at the Methotlist 
church, and for the last five years he has been 
the church organist. 




r;)l[ ENRY VAN B1':RGFN, the well- 
known miller of Co.\sackie, N.Y., 
was born in Athens, Greene County, 
on December 30, 1850, son of Peter and Mary 
(De Griff) Van Bergen. The founder of the 
Van Bergen family in this country came from 
Holland to Albany, N. Y., in early Colonial 
times, and later, in 1678, with his three 
sturdy sons, settled in Leeds, now the town of 
Catskill. One of the inunigrant's sons, Peter 
by name, was born in Albany. From him the 
line is through his son Henry, followed by 
three in successive generations bearing the 
name Peter, the fourth Peter being the father 
of the subject of this sketch. Henry, first. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



139 



and his descendants above named, were all 
born in dixsackie. The family is among the 
ver}- oldest in Coxsackie, and all tlie land em- 
braced within the town limits was at one time 
owned by the Van Bergens. The first Re- 
formed church, which was built in 1740, stood 
on land which was the gift of one of the mem- 
bers of this family. 

Peter Van ]5ergcn, the great-grandfather, 
resided about a half mile from the present vil- 
lage. He died in 1854, at the age of ninety. 
His wife's maiden name was Woodbeck. 
They had a large family of children. Grand- 
father Peter had a brickyard near the j^resent 
town of West Coxsackie, or at Lower Landing, 
which he carried on with great success. Pie 
was one of the leading men in the town, and a 
member of the Assembly in 1846. He was 
a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. 
His first wife, the grandmother of Henry Van 
Bergen, was an Egbertson. She bore him two 
children. His second wife was before mar- 
riage Christina Van Wormer. She was born in 
Glenville, Montgomery County. Of her six 
children, two are living, namely: Isaac, who 
resides in New York; and Christina, who is 
the wife of \V. R. Adams, at I-'our Mile Point. 

Peter Van Bergen, father of the subject of 
this sketch, purchased a farm of his own in 
early manhood, and later had a part of his 
father's farm. He lived just across the line in 
New Baltimore, and died there at the age of 
sixty-six. Like his ancestors he was an active 
member of the Dutch Reformed church, and 
one of its leading officials. His wife, Mary, 
who survives him, was born in Amsterdam, 



N. Y. , a daughter of Diedrich De Graff, a 
farmer, who married a Miss Van Wormer, and 
had a large family. She is the only survivor of 
her fatlier's family. Her father died at the age 
of sixty, and her mother at the age of seventy- 
five. Three children were born to Peter and 
Mary Van Bergen ; and two. Nelson and 
Henry, are living, botli millers in this town. 

Henry Van Bergen, the special suljject of 
this sketch, obtained his education in the com- 
mon schools, and subsequently assisted his 
father on the home farm until the latter's 
death. He then came to the village and built 
the grist-mill, which he has since so success- 
fully operated. It is a steam-mill, and has 
three runs of stone and a set of rollers. A 
very large custom business is here done in 
grinding grain, and from this mill large quan- 
tities of buckwheat flour are jjut into the 
market. 

Mr. \"an Bergen's marriage occurred in 
1886, his wife being Phrebe J., only child of 
the late Captain James Delamater, for many 
years one of the best-known pilots on the Hud- 
son River. She has borne l]im two ciiildren 
— Mamie and Lawrence. 

Mr. \'an Bergen upholds the time-honored 
principles of his family in his adherence to the 
Democratic party ; but he believes in putting 
in office the best man, regardless of party affil- 
iations. In 18S7 and 1S88 he was Supervisor 
in the town of New Baltimore. In 1888 he 
was a candidate for County Clerk, and was 
elected by one hundred and fifty-one votes, 
all the other members of the ticket being de- 
feated by three hundred votes. After serving 



I40 



UKJC. RA I'H ICAL RFAI lAV 



three years he was again nominated in 1891, 
and was re-elected by a thousand majority, 
running six hunched aliead of liis tic]<et. 
Three years later, in 1.S94, he was again nomi- 
nated, l)ut failed of election, going down in 
the Democratic "land slide." In 1.S96 he 
was Presidential Elector from this district. 
He was on the County Committee, being its 
chairman in iS'<j2, and was re-elected in the 
follow ing year, but resigned. lie has at dif- 
ferent limes refused the nomination i)olh to 
tiie State legislature and to Congress. He is 
one of the Town Water Commissioners, and 
has served on the Hoard of luiucation for the 
last three years, having under his charge the 
school at West Co.xsackie. He is a member 
of the Knigiits of rythias, and he and his fam 
ily are atlherents of the Dutch l-ieformetl 
cluuch. 



T^HARLES S. BURNETT, M.l)., of 

I Ji .Summit, .Sciioharie County, ^'.^^, 

^ ^ was born in Eminence, N.^'. , .Sep- 

temi)er 1^, 1S50, son of Francis and IMelissa 
(Cermond) Hurnett. Hoth ihe fatlier's family 
and the nioihcr's are of luiglish origin. Tiie 
I'lUiiutts came here fi'nm Connecticut. Mat- 
thi.is liurnett. Dr. lUunctt's grandfather, who 
was i)orn March S, IJ/S, and died April 
19, 184S, was an early settler in Jefferson. 
After locating here he was married to .Susan 
(iueiin. .She was born Maich 25, i/.So, and 
she died I'ebruary 27, 1844. They were the 
parents of nine sons and four daughters. All 
of the sons became prosperous farmers. 



l-"rancis Hurnett, Dr. Hurnett's father, was 
born in Jefferson, September 25, 1821. 
Early in life he engaged in general farming in 
Eminence, where he tilled the soil energeti- 
cally for the rest of his active period, and he 
died July 7, 1890. He was the father of four 
children, namely: Lucetta b'., who man ied 
Charles Huhhell, of Jefferson; James, who is 
engaged in mercantile business in .Summit; 
H\i-on, a resident of Cobleskill ; and Chailes 
S., M.D., the subject of this sketch. 

Charles S. Burnett acquired his earlv educa- 
tion in the schools of Eminence, N.V. On 
leaving school he was employed for a time as 
a clerk in his biother's store, and then going 
to Newark, N.J., he worked at the carpenter's 
trade. His medical studies were begun under 
the direction of Dr. F. 15. J^eard, were contin- 
ued with Dr. Bigelow, of Albany, and later at 
the Albany Medical School, which he entered 
in 1876. His expenses there he ilefra\ed with 
funds saved from his earnings. He displayed 
such marked jjroficiency in his studies that 
when he was graduated, in 1879, he was 
chosen orator of his class, the majorit)' of 
whose members had |Hirsued a classical course 
jjrior to entering a professional school. I're- 
feriing a coimlry practice, he first settled at 
North Blenheim, where he resided seven years, 
at the expiration of which lime he came to 
.Summit, succeeding to the practice of Dr. 
Beard. He has gained a high standing among 
the leading physicians in this section. 

In politics he is a Democrat. In i S97 he 
was elected Coroner for a term of three years. 
He belongs to the County Medical Society, 




JAMES \V. WAUDELL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



143 



takes a lively interest in tlie advancement of 
science, and as a progressive, public-spirited 
citizen he is actively concerned in all matters 
relative to the improvement of this town. The 
residence he now occupies was erected by him 
in 1893. 

Dr. IkuMiett married Nannie l^uckint;"ham, 
daughter of Merritt BuckinL;hani, of Gilboa. 
Mrs. Burnett is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 



AMES W. VVADDELL, former Super- 
visor of Duanesburg, N. Y. , was born 
where he now resides, June i, 1826, 
being the only son of David and Mary (Coie) 
Waddell. His father was born in the north of 
Ireland, August 14, 1794; and his mother was 
born there, February 15, 1792. 

Shortly after their marriage, which took 
place May 23, 1S16, David Waddell and his 
wife came to the Uniteil States, settling in 
Duanesburg; and about the year 1825 he 
bought the farm which is now owned by his 
son. A sturd}', industrious, and jirogressive 
farmer, he labored diligently to maintain a 
comfortable home for his family; and, being a 
worthy, upright man, he gained the sincere 
esteem of his fellow-townspeople. In politics 
he supported the Democratic party, and in his 
religious belief he was a Presbyterian. David 
Waddell died May 7, 1862, and his wife died 
May 7, 1 87 1. They were the parents of eight 
ciiildren, namely: Ruth, born November 22, 
1817; Rose Anna, born May 24, 1S20; Fi- 
delia, born July 11, 1822; Mary Jane, born 



February 28, 1824; James W. , born, as above 
mentioned, June i, 1S26; Margaret, born 
April 3, 1829; Hannah, born March 25, 183 i ; 
and Sarah M., born September i, 1833. Of 
these, four are now living, namely: l'"idclia, 
who resides at the old homestead; Mary Jane, 
the wife of Thomas H. Turnbull, of Rotterdam 
Junction, N.Y. ; James W., the subject of this 
sketch ; and Margaret, now the widow of S. 
Putnam, and living in South Schenectady, 
N.Y. Ruth, the eldest, was the wife of 
Elijah Rockwell ; and Hannah, the seventh 
child, was the wife of Dr. D. S. Kellogg. 

James W. Waddell sjjcnt his early boyhood 
years in attending the district school and as- 
sisting his father upon the farm, and later 
during the wintei' months attended school at 
Charlotteville and Fort Plain Seminaries. 
Succeeding to the ownership of the prop- 
erty, which contains two hundred and thirt}' 
acres, he has improved it by erecting new 
buildings, carries on general farming ener- 
getically, and keeps from twenty to twenty- 
five head of stock. 

On September 3, 1873, Mr. Waddell was 
united in marriage with S. Electa Howard, 
who was born in Duanesburg, January 27, 



184: 



P"our children were born of this union, 



and two of them are living, namely: George 
W. H., born August 8, 1879; and William 
D., born May 13, 18S1, both of whom are at- 
tending a business college. The others were: 
Mary; and another tlaughter, who dieil in in- 
fancy. Mrs. Waddell died January 26, 1899. 
Politically, Mr. Waddell acts with the 
Democratic party at national elections. He 



144 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



has been Supervisor and Road Commissioner, 
holding each of these offices three terms and 
rendering capable service to the town. He 
takes a lively interest in the public institu- 
tions of the town, and is ever ready to aid in 
improving the general welfare of the commu- 
nity. Mr. Waddell attends the Presbyterian 
church. 






I'URGE L. l''()X, editor of the Mid- 
lleburg A^cu's, is a native of Middle- 
burg, N.'S'. He was born on April 3, 1871, 
son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Wilbur) Fox. 
His father, who is now living retired, was for- 
merly engaged in the paper manufacturing 
business in Pen Yan, and later in Baldwins- 
ville and Middleburg. His mother was born 
in .Schoharie. His jiarents had a family of 
five children. 

Mr. Fo.x received his education in the com- 
mon and high schools of Middleburg; and in 
1888, shortlv after leaving the high school, he 
began the iniblication of 77(T Ai/urhui/ Yoiitli, 
a monthly story paper. This was issued from 
Middleburg, and had a circulation in every 
State in the Union. The following year it was 
sold to a publishing house in Boston, and sub- 
sequently Mr. Fo.x purchased the .South 
Orange, '^.]., Jouiual, and moved it to Mid- 
dleburg. Associating himself with Welling- 
ton v.. Passler, a prominent business man and 
a Rei)ublican, he began the publication of the 
Middleburg Ken's, a weekly paper. At first 
the venture seemed most un])romising, and the 
field was a limited one, Init the energy and 
perseverance with which the jiroprietors have 



worked, the fortunate methods employed by 
the business management, and the enterprise 
shown in the news columns have together 
united to push the paper into the front rank 
of Republican weeklies. It is now one of the 
leading news organs of the county, and has a 
large circulation. While its columns give 
ample space to events of national importance, 
it does not forget to em])hasize matters of local 
interest, and is always foremost in agitating 
local improvements. At various times it has 
been designated by the Republican leaders as 
the organ in which the .State laws should be 
printed. 

Mr. I""o.x was married on October 28, 1897, 
to Mabel Almy. She was born in Franklin- 
ton, and is a daughter of E. C. Alm\', who w^as 
formerly a farmer of that town, and is now re- 
tired antl living in Middleburg. Mr. P'ox is a 
member of Middleburg Lodge, No. 661, F. & 
A. M. , and has held the office of Junior Dea- 
con of the lodge. He is a member of La Bas- 
tile Lodge, No. 494, I. O. O. F. , and has 
filled nearly all the offices in the lodge, being 
now Past Noble Grand. He is also a member 
of Oucongena Tribe of Red Men. Profession- 
all}-, he is a member of the New York Edito- 
rial Association and the New York Press Asso- 
ciation. He and his wife attend the Methodist 
church. 



UGH B. GARA, proprietor of the 
West End Hotel, Hunter, N. Y., 
was born in Mauch Chunk, Pa!, 
Ajiril 15, 1855, son of John and Mary (Mc- 
Intire) Gara. His father was born in Ire- 




BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



I4S 



land, and here he learned the trade of a shoe- 
maker, which he followed as long as he lived. 
Emigrating to America in 1848, John Gara 
settled in Mauch Chunk, and in 1855 he re- 
moved to Hunter, where his death occurred in 
1859, at the age of thirty-nine years. In pol- 
itics he was a Democrat. His wife, Mary, 
also a native of Ireland, is now seventy years 
old. Her father, Hugh Mclntire, was a shoe- 
maker and tavern-keeper. He came to Amer- 
ica on a visit, and after his return to Ireland 
he continued in business until his retirement, 
when he was succeeded by his brother. Hugh 
Mclntire had a family of seven childen. Of 
these the four now living are: Mrs. Gara; 
Joseph, who is in a post-office in Ireland; 
Katy, widow of Thomas Kaggerty, who died 
in Mauch Chunk, Pa. ; and Patrick, who is a 
hotel proprietor in Ireland. John and Mary 
(Mclntire) Gara were the parents of eight 
children, of whom two are living; namely, 
Mary and her brother, Hugh B., the subject 
of this sketch, with whom she resides. The 
others were: Patrick, who died March 7, 
1889, aged thirty -nine; John F., who died 
November 4, 1888, at the age of twenty-nine; 
Hugh, first, who died in Ireland, at seven 
years of age; and three children who died 
young. 

Hugh B. Gara was brought by his parents 
to Hunter when six months old. He was ed- 
ucated in the common schools, and at the age 
of twelve entered the chair factory, where he 
was employed until eighteen. He continued 
to follow his trade as a journeyman one year 
in a chair factory in Newburg, from which 



place he went to New York City, and a year 
later became a travelling salesman in the dry- 
goods business. Prior to this his brother, 
John F., had erected the present West End 
Hotel in Hunter, which was opened in 1887; 
and Mr. Gara left the road to assist him in 
this enterprise, in a general way. Upon the 
death of his brother, Hugh took control of the 
house, and has since conducted it. 

The West End is pleasantly located near 
the terminus of the Stony Clove and Catskill 
Mountain Railroad. It is sixty by thirty 
feet, with a wing twenty-eight by seventy, 
four stories high, and has accommodations for 
one hundred and thirty guests. The rooms 
are large, well ventilated, well furnished, and 
lighted with gas. The bath accommodations 
are ample, and the sanitary arrangements are 
unexcelled. The house is within easy reach 
of Hotel Kaaterskill and Laurel House, and 
of Onteora, Elka, and Twilight Parks. 
There is a good livery stable in connection. 

On October 12, 1898, Mr. Gara was united 
in marriage with Mary E. O'CarroU, daugh- 
ter of David and Kate (O'Neil) O'Carroll, of 
Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland. Her 
paternal grandfather, Michael O'Carroll, a sea 
captain, was also a native of that town. Her 
father, who was reared to sea life, became 
master of a vessel plying between Ireland and 
France, and was also engaged in trade be- 
tween Cork and Liverpool. Abandoning the 
sea, he opened a ship-broker's office in Cardiff, 
Wales, and conducted that business until his 
death, which occurred in 1884, at the age of 
fifty-seven. His wife, Kate, was a sister of 



146 



BIOG RA ri 1 1 CAL REVI E\V 



the Rev. Hugh O'Ncil, a sketch of whom ap- 
pears elsewhere in the Review. She died in 
1877, at the age of forty-one. She was the 
mother of tlirec children. The only survivor 
of tlie.se is Mary K., who was educated in the 
Mercy Convent, Dungarvan, and is now I\Ir.«. 
Ilngli 15. Gara. She is a fine piani.st, and 
also received special instruction in painting 
and the French language. She kept house for 
her father until his death, and with the aid of 
two assistants continued his business until 
coming to the United States in 1886. Fre- 
vious to her marriage she resided with iicr 
uncle, the Rev. Father O'Neil. Mrs. Gara 
is a valualjle assistant to her husband, l)eing 
a woman of much e.vecutive ability. 



is 



^TJ''1^15FRT L. ODELL, M.D., an able 
physician and specialist of .Sharon 
Springs, N.Y. , was born in Sum- 
mit, this county, July 18, 1S59, son of Isaac 
I., and Harriet L. (]5aldwin) Odell. The 
family was foundt-d in America, late in the 
se\enteenth or earl)- in the eighteenth centur)-, 
by the great-great-great-granilfathcr, who emi- 
grated from ICngland and settled on Long 
Island. 

Isaac L. Odell, the lather, who was born in 
■Jefferson, N.\'. , in 1815, nKJved to .Sunnnit 
when a yomig man, and cairied on cpiite an ex- 
tensive business as a cooper. He took consid- 
erable interest in public affairs, serving as 
Town Clerk and in olher offices. In politics 
he supported the DeuKierat ic paity, and in his 
reliiiious belief he was a Methodist. Ilis wife, 



whose maiden name was Harriet L. ISaldwin, 
was born in 181S. They were the parents of 
five children, namely: Daniel; George W. ; 
Peter L. ; Julia 1^., who married H. A. 
Wright, of Worcester, \. Y. ; and Herbert L. , 
the subject of this sketch. The father died in 
1893, the mother's death having occurreil a few 
months previous. Uanicl, George W. , and 
Peter L. Odell reside in Summit. 

Herbert L. Odell acquired hi.s eaily educa- 
tion in the public and select schools. His 
medical studies wei'C begun under the direction 
of Ur. I". P. Heard, then of .Summit and now 
of Coblcskill, with whom lie remained four 
years. He was graduated from the Albany 
Medical College in 1883; and, while ]inrsuing 
his course in that cit\', lie studied with Dr. 
Jacob S. Mo.shcr. Locating for practice in 
Hobart, N.Y. , he remained tliere until March, 
1S92, when he came to Sharon Springs. Dur- 
ing the last six years of the time sjient at Ho- 
bart he was associated in piaetice with Dr. 
J. S. McNaughl. While ])ie[)aring foi- his 
profession. Dr. Odell made a special study of 
dermatology; and, since entering into prac- 
tice, he has given much attention to the treat- 
ment of rheumatism, in which he is remarka- 
bly successful. L)uring the summer a large 
number of jiatients come to .Sharon S]irings, in 
Older to avail thenisehes of his treatment and 
at the same time to receive the benefits of the 
sul]iliur baths. Dr. Odell attends, al.so, to 
most of the obstetric practice in this localit)'. 
He was formerly ]ircsident of the Delawaie 
Count)- Medical Sociel)-, is ])resident of the 
Schoharie and a member of the Albaii) ComUy 




GARRKT W. iMATTICK. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



149 



Medical Societies. Progressive as well as 
energx'tic, he keeps in touch with advanced 
ideas by malving frec|vient visits to the hosjiitals 
of the metropolis. 

Dr. Odell and Eva L. Hoose, only daughter 
of Robert J. Hoose, of Ilobart, N.Y. , were 
united in marriage on May 13, 1S85. They 
have three daughters — Grace, Kloise, and 
l^eatrice. 

Politically, Dr. Odell acts with the Demo- 
cratic party. He is a Master Mason, belong- 
ing to the Blue Lodge in Sharon Springs, and 
is also an Odd Fellow. He is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he 
is now servinfr as steward. 



/^^^TeORGE 1L FAULKNER, Supervisor 
\|£J_ and Justice of the Peace, Lexington, 
Greene County, N.Y., was born in this town 
September 6, 1S42, son of Alfred and Sarah 
(Cross) Faulkner. His paternal grandfather, 
William Faulkner, was a native of Liverpool, 
England. He came to Lexington before mar- 
riage, ant], settling on a farm, engaged in its 
cultivation, and also followed the trade of a 
shoemaker. A man of considerable natural 
ability, in politics he was a Democrat, and 
represented his district in the Assembly. He 
married Abigail Drake. They lived to an ad- 
vanced age, and had a large family of children. 
Allred L'aulkner grew to manhood upon the 
home farm. Later he cultivated a farm of his 
own in Halcott, where he resided for the rest 
of his life, and was quite actix'C in pul^lic 
affairs. His first wife, Sarah, died about the 



year 1845. She was a daughter of George 
Cross, a farmer and lifelong resident of Lex- 
ington. She had three children: Mary, who 
married F^rank Moore, of this town; Victor, 
who is in F'leischmann.s, Delaware County; 
and George H., the subject of this sketch. 
For his second wife he married Ann Faulkner, 
who at her death left two children — James and 
Sarah. Alfred Faulkner died at seventy-three 
years of age. 

George H. F'aulkner spent his early years 
with an uncle on a farm about a mile below the 
village, and was educated in the common 
schools. He followed agriculture until 1SS6, 
when he came to the village, and engaged in 
selling farming implements. He also trans- 
acts a great deal of legal business and has con- 
siderable iiractice in the minor courts. 

Li 1S90 Mr. Faulkner married Miss Mary 
M. Banks, daughter of Joseph Banks, a farmer 
of Hardenburg, N. Y. One son, Leon, has 
been, born of this union. 

Politically, Mr. P\au]kner is a Democrat. 
Lie has been Justice of the Peace since 1882. 
He was Justice of Special Sessions one term, 
is now serving as Supervisor, and has been 
Tax Collector two years. He is a trustee of 
the Baptist and Methodist churches, and Mrs. 
Faulkner attends the Baptist church of Lexing- 
ton. 



fm>^ 



.ARRET VV. MATTICE, a well- 
\[^J_ known and highly respected agricult- 
urist of Schoharie County, owns and occupies 
a farm on the Middleburg road in the town of 
Fulton, about two miles from Fultonham. Lie 



'5° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



was born June 2, 1S30, a son of Adam L. 
Matticc, and is a direct descendant of Nicholas 
Matt ice, wiio emigrated from Germany in the 
early jiart of the eighteenth century and took 
up a tract of wild land in the vicinity of the 
Upper Fort, Schoharie County. 

Conrad Matt ice, son of Nicholas and the 
next in line of descent, was a lifelong resi- 
dent of this part of the State. In his early 
manhoiid he located on land in Middleburg, 
where his son Lawrence, the grandfather of 
(jarret W. , was l:>(irn. 

At the time of the Revolution, Lawrence 
Mattice, though but a boy of sixteen, was em- 
ployed at the Middle Fort, and with Murphy 
and other brave soldiers marched out to meet 
the enemy. On one of his hasty expeditions 
he and a companion succeeded in taking pris- 
oner a man by the name of Adam Chrysler, 
whom they carried to the fort. He continued 
in service until the close of the war, when he 
settled on a farm, and from that time until his 
death, at the venerable age of eighty-six years, 
was engaged in cultivating the land. lie was 
quite ])rom incut in the management of town 
matters, and at one time was nominated to the 
State Assembly. His wife, Maria Brown, a 
native of this part of the county, bore him 
seven children, none of whom sur\-ive. She 
lived to be ujnvard of eighty years of age, and 
diet! at the old homestead. Buth she antl her 
husband were members of the Lutheran 
church. 

, Adam L. Mattice was born September 15, 
1S03, in Middleburg. Following in the 
footsteps of his ancestors, he became a tiller of 



the soil. On coming of age he purchased a 
farm not far from the old home, and in the 
log house that stood in the clearing began 
life for himself, poor in pocket, but rich in 
energy, courage, and ambition. By dint of 
industr)- ami economv he succeeded in pay- 
ing for his land, besides which he laid up a 
small sum. On Ajiril 5, 1S49, having sold 
his first estate, he look possession of the 
farm now occupied by his son. Garret W. , 
and here resided until his death, July 5, 
1888. A man of sound judgment and good 
financial ability, he became prominent in the 
town, and served as Highway Commissioner 
and Assessor for a number of j-enrs. Both 
he and his wife were active members of the 
Baptist church. He married Dinah Mattice, 
who was born in the town of lilenheim, a 
daughter of Da\id Mattice, a prosperous 
farmer. They had a family of five children, 
three of whom survive, nameh' : Garret \V. ; 
Dinah, wife of Josiah Mann; and Llizabeth, 
wife of I'eter Shaffer. 

Garret W. Mattice was born in the log cabin 
in which his parents settled soon after mar- 
riage, and during his earlier years he assisted 
in the pioneer labor of redeeming a farm from 
the wilderness. In 1849 he came with them 
to his ])iesent farm, which he and a brother 
who dieil in 1877 helped to improve. l'"rom 
that time until the death of his father, in 
1 888, Mr. Mattice had the general oversight 
of the jiroperty, which is now in his posses- 
sion. This farm contains one hundred and 
seventy acres of land, and he also owns a farm 
of one huntlred acres on the road to Cohleskill. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



151 



Skilful and progressive, he h:is met with 
success as a general farmer. He raises hay, 
grain, and hops, is an extensive dealer in 
cattle, and from his small herd of cows makes 
a choice grade of butter, which he shijis to Al- 
bany. He has made many of the most impor- 
tant improvements on the place, including the 
erection of the present commodious dwelling- 
house and the substantial barns and farm 
buildings. 

In i)olitics Mr. Mattice afifiliates with the 
Democratic party, and besides serving as Com- 
missioner of Highways he was Supervisor from 
iSg6 until i8g8. He is a regular attendant of 
the Baptist church, and in the building of the 
new edifice of that denomination gave material 
financial assistance. 

On March 24, 1S66, Mr. Mattice married 
Rachel Cowan, a daughter of James Cowan, 
well known in Fulton as an able farmer and 
lawyer. Mr. Cowan married Emeline Cary, 
of Schoharie, who passed to the life immortal 
at the age of sixty-eight years, while he at- 
tained the age of fourscore years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Mattice have one child living, a son, 
Paul IV, and they have been bereft of two, 
namely: Eli G. , who died aged three years, 
six months; and Ira C, who died aged four 
years and seven months. Paul B. Mattice 
after his graduation at the Middleburg High 
School entered Cornell University, class of 
1901, intending there to fit himself for the 
bar. During the Spanish War he enlisted, 
July 17, 1898, in Company K, Two Hundred 
and Third New York Volunteers, and served 
until March 25, 1899, when he was mustered 



out as Corporal. On his return he again took 
up his studies at Cornell. 




HARLES E. NICHOLS, coun.selIor- 
at-law, and District Attorney of Greene 
County, and one of the best-known 
and most respected residents of Catskill, was 
born in Athens, Greene County, March 20, 
1S54. His father is General George Sylvester 
Nichols, and his mother in maidenhood was 
Ann Netterville Foster. 

His paternal grandfather was Judge Sylves- 
ter Nichols, a native and prominent citizen of 
Athens. Besides carrying on a farm, the 
grandfather was a manufacturer of brick and 
lime, was also engaged in freighting on a large 
scale, being the owner of several vessels. He 
was also County Judge of Greene County for 
several years. He married Lucy E. Hamilton, 
who also was a native of Athens. She died in 
1 89 1, at the age of ninety. Seven of their 
children grew to maturity; namely, George 
Sylvester, Samuel Hamilton, William T., E\- 
bridge, Charles P., Henry O. , and Sarah. 

George Sylvester Nichols, the first-named 
son, was born in Athens, N. Y., January 12, 
1820. He attended private schools in Athens 
until twelve years old; and in 1832 he entered 
Lenox Academy, Mass., where he remained 
one year. In 1S34 he went to Fairfield Acad- 
emy, Herkimer County, N.Y., for a year ; and 
during the year 1837 he .studied at the acad- 
emy in Kinderhook, N. Y., which was estab- 
lished by his grandfather. l*"rom 1838 to 
1846 he was captain of the sloop "Science, " 



152 



mOGRAl'HICAL REVIEW 



owned by his father, carrying brick, lime, 
hay, and jjrodiice froni Athens to New York. 
He was appointed Brigade Quartermaster of 
the Thirty-seventh Brigade of New York State 
Militia, and commissioned by (lovernor Will- 
iam C. Bouck on Sejjtembcr 14, 1S43; and he 
was api)ointed Brigadier-general of the Thirty- 
seventh Brigade by Governor Silas Wright 
on March 3, 1S45. In 1.S47 and 1848 he was 
employed in Troy, N.Y., as superintendent of 
Colonel J. Hooker's docks, barges and canal 
boats, and general mnndger of his transporta- 
tion line to New York. lie started for Cali- 
fornia in 1849, sailing from New York on 
February 5 in the steamer "Crescent City " for 
San Francisco. After staying a month on the 
isthmus, in Gorgona and Panama, he left the 
last-named place on the steamer "Oregon" on 
her first trij) up the coast, and, arriving at San 
Francisco on the first day of Ajjril, 1849, went 
directly to Sutter's Mill, Coloma, where he 
was engaged nearly two years in packing and 
trading. He left San l'"rancisco for home 
about December i, 1850, by steamer, going to 
Panama, from there crossing the isthmus to 
Chagres by mule and bungo, as on the trip 
out, and thence reaching New York by steamer 
about the first of January, 185 i. In the 
sjjring of 1 85 1 he was elected Supervisor of 
the town of Athens, and two years later was 
nominated by the Democratic party for State 
Senator for the Tenth District, which includes 
Greene and. Ulster Counties, but was defeated 
by the Prohibition candidate. In 1S55 he was 
again nominated for State Senator, this time 
by the Amcriian part)', was elected, and 



served one term. On June 8, i860, he was 
appointed one of the Board of Commissioners 
of Ivxcisc for Greene County for three years. 

When hostilities began between the South 
anil the North, he felt that his former military 
training would be of value to hit. country, and 
decided to offer himself as a vidimtecr. On 
November 23, 1861, having received an ap- 
pointment as Major in the Ninth New \'ork 
Cavalry, and having been given his commis- 
sion by G(nernor Morgan, be left Albany on 
the same day for the national caiutal. Ujjon 
going into active service, liis biavery and abil- 
itv at once became conspicuous, antl his ])io- 
motion was rapid. On May 30, 1863, he was 
made Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment, and 
on June 14, 1864, was commissioned Colonel 
by Governor Se}anour. He was musteretl out 
with the regiment at Buffalo, X.\'., on July 
17, 1865. On March 13, 1S65, "for gallant 
and meritorious services in all the cavalry en- 
gagements under General Slierichui," he was 
brevetted Brigadier-general of United States 
Volunteers. 

On June 25, 1867, he was appointed by 
Collector H. A. Smythe Inspector of Customs 
in the New York Custom House, and on No- 
vember 8, 1875, he was apixiinted, b\- Collec- 
tor Chester A. .Arthui', Deputy Collector of 
Customs. In 1879 he was nominated for 
member of Congress by the Re|5ublican party 
in the Fifteenth Congressional District (Ul- 
ster, Greene, and Schoharie Counties), but 
was defeated. In 1882 he was a])pointe(l b\- 
Secretary of the Interior, the lion. II. M. 
Teller, S[)ecial I'^\:uniiu'i- in the piaision office; 



BIOGRArHICAI, REVIEW 



and in this capacity he served three years. 
For three years also subsequent to 1885 he held 
the office of County Cleriv of Greene County, 
having been elected by the Republican party. 
Since i8Sg General Nich(5ls has retired from 
active life. 

On October 7, 1845, he married Ann Net- 
terville Foster, daughter of Captain James G. 
and Ann E. Foster. Mrs. Nichols was born 
in Athens, N.Y. , and died there at the age of 
eighty. Her father was a sea caj^tain, and 
commanded a ship that ran from New V'ork 
to Liverpool, England. During the embargo 
placed upon American vessels by the French, 
he anchored his vessel in the river, a few miles 
below Athens, to get it in fresh water, and 
while there met Ann Colson, witii whom he 
fell in love at sight. He made only one more 
voyage, and then married and settled in Athens, 
where he went into the brick-making business. 
This he gave up after a time, and subsequently 
carried on a store until his death, at the age of 
seventy-si.\. He owned a fine farm. His 
wife died at the age of seventy-eight, having 
been the mother of si.x children. Five chil- 
dren were born to General George S. and Ann 
N. Nichols, and four of them are living; 
namely, Mar)-, Foster, Charles E., and Ar- 
thur. Mary married Frank N. Howland, who 
is a member of the firm of Smith & Candee, 
the oldest and leading firm of dealers in lime, 
brick, and builders' supplies in New York 
City. Foster Nichols is purchasing agent for 
M. Guggenheim's Sons, who are among the 
largest smelters and refiners in the United 
States. Arthur Nichols is a mining operator 



in I^eadville, Col. Mrs. Nichols was a devout 
Episcopalian, as is also the general; and he 
was formerly a member of a Masonic organiza- 
tion. He resides in "The Old Nest" in 
Athens, which has been his home for half a 
century. 

Charles E. Nichols spent his early years in 
his native town of Athens, and received his 
early education in the district schools. Sub- 
sequently he attended the high school at 
Englewood, N.J., the I^^iirfield Seminary at 
Fairfield, N. Y. , and the Fort Edward Collegi- 
ate Institute. Then, following the memorable 
advice of Horace Greeley, he went West, and 
was employed in the general office of the Colo- 
rado Central Railroad at Golden, Col., for 
about four years. Having decided to enter the 
legal profession, he gave his mind with ardor 
to the necessary studies, and was admitted to 
the bar in Colorado in 1880. He practised 
his profession in that State for about two 
years, during which time he also engaged to 
some extent in mining. Then, returning East, 
he was admitted to the bar in the State of New 
York in 1882, after which he practised law in 
Athens for some three years. In 1885 he was 
appointed Deputy County Clerk under his 
father, which position he held until 1889. 
He was then appointed Clerk to the Surro- 
gate's Court by the present surrogate, and 
served until December, 1898, a period of ten 
years in all, when he resigned, having been 
elected District Attorney in the fall of that 
year. He still has three years to serve in this 
ofifice. 

Mr. Nichols was married in 1890 to Mrs. 



'54 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mary B. Willis, who was born in Connecticut, 
the daughter of the Rev. II. II. Bates, an 
Episcopalian clergyman. I ler mother's maiden 
name was E. Samanthe Bascom. Both parents 
were natives of Vermont. They had three 
children. Mr. Bates was rector of a church in 
Glens Falls, N.Y., at the breaking out of the 
Civil War; and, when one of his wardens had 
enlisted as a Colonel and another as a Major, 
he resigned his charge at their request, and 
went to the fnmt as chajdain of their regiment. 
He remained with his regiment throughout the 
war, and sub.sequently, his health being im- 
paired, took a small charge in Oak Hill, this 
county. There he died in icS68. He was an 
active Mason, and was bLuied with Masonic 
rites. The lodge of which he was a member 
erected a monument to his memory at Oak 
Hill, N.Y. , where he was buried. 

Mr. Nichols is Vice-Chancellor in the 
Knights of Pythias Lodge in Catskill, and 
Junior Sagamore of the Red Men. in 1SS2 
he was a member of the Lodge of Knights of 
Pythias in Athens. He has resided in Catskill 
since 1890, when he removed here from Athens. 
He and his wife are members of the Episcopal 
church, which has recently erected a beautiful 
new church edifice. While in Athens Mr. 
Nichols was a lay-reader in the church there, 
and for three years superintendent of the Sun- 
day-school. 

ICIIARU WINEGARD, a well-known 
luiller of Hyndsville, Schoharie 
County, was Ijoi'ii near this x'illage 
Seplendjer 19, 1845, a son of George and 




Eliza A. (Isham) Winegard. He is of Ger- 
man ancestry, and a grandson of one of the 
earliest settlers of this section of .Schoharie 
County — Richard Winegard, first, who came 
here from Schodack, Rensselaer County. 

There being no roads across the country in 
those early days. Grandfather Winegard made 
the journey hither through the unbroken woods 
on horseback ; and, ]ia\ing secured a tract of 
land in the heart of the forest, he felled trees, 
and thus made an opening in which he luit u]) 
a small log cabin of rude construction, with n(j 
windows, and only a blanket for a door. lie 
was a tailor; and, in connection with clearing 
a farm, he worked at his trade wlienever he had 
an opportunit)'. He succeeded finely at both 
occupations, and in the course of a few years 
had cleared and jdaced under cultivation a 
number of acres of land. Prudent, thriftful, 
and a good manager, he at length found that he 
was warranted in replacing the log-cabin with a 
substantial frame house, and in building a com- 
fortable barn and a shed for his new wagon and 
farming implements. A man of intelligence 
and sound judgment, he became influential 
in the community and a leader in religious 
circles. He was a devout Methodist, and a 
regular attendant at the prayer-meetings held 
seven miles away, a journey that he tnuk on 
horseback. He far outlived tlie allotted span 
of human life, his pilgrimage on earth extend- 
ing over a period of one hundred and two 
years. His wife, Charity Kickart, was also of 
(lerman descent. She proved herself a true 
heliJmeet, assisting him in theii" early days of 
labor while li\ing in the log-cabin, and train- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



^S5 



ing their seven ehildren to habits of industry 
and usefulness. She preceded him to the 
better world, passing away at the age of eighty- 
five years. 

George Winegard assisted his father in his 
pioneer labors, and after reaching man's estate 
purchascil the old Peter Marklc farm near by, 
in the town of .Seward, and spent many years 
in improving it. He built a new dwelling, a 
barn, and other farm buildings, and was there 
engaged in agricultural pursuits several years. 
Subsequently coming to Hyndsville, he bought 
land, rebuilt the saw-mill and built a grist- 
mill, and during the remainder of his life was 
prominently identified with the highest and 
best interests of this little village, and was 
largely instrumental in its development. In 
politics he was, in early manhood, a stanch 
Whig, and later a Republican. A man of 
eminent piety, deeply interested in advancing 
the cause of religion, he was very active in the 
Methodist church, with which he united when 
young, and was for many years a class leader 
and one of the trustees. When its present 
house of worshiiJ was erected he was one of the 
foremost in hastening the work, and contrib- 
uted fourteen hundred dollars toward the 
building fund. He died at the age of seventy- 
two years, leaving a host of friends who sym- 
pathized with the family in their great loss. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza A. 
Isham, was born in this town. Her father, 
Benjamin Isham, was a prominent citizen and 
a pioneer merchant of Hyndsville. .She was a 
woman of culture, ha\ing been educated at a 
New York City boarding-school. .She was a 



distant relation of John Ouincy Adams. Mrs. 
Winegard survived her husband, dying at the 
age of eighty-two years. They reared five 
children, namely: Emily, wife of Rector Fos- 
ter ; Phebe, deceased; George, deceased; Rich- 
ard ; and Albert. 

Richard Winegard was educated in the dis- 
trict schools, and until he was thirty-five years 
old he worked with his father on the farm and 
in the mill. Since the death nf the father 
he and his brother Albert have devoted their 
attention to the grist-mill, and, in addition to 
dealing somewhat in grain and feed, have car- 
ried on a very extensive business in custom 
grinding of corn, flour, and feed. The nine 
acres of land included in the original property 
they utilize by raising on it hay, grain, and 
potatoes. 

Politically, Mr. Winegard is a steadfast Re- 
publican, and takes an active interest in local 
and county affairs. P^raternally, he is an Odd 
Fellow, belonging to Richmondville Eodge. 
True to the religious faith in which he was 
reared, he is a faithful member of the Meth- 
odist I'^piscopal church, which he has served 
for many years as trustee, steward, class 
leader, and church recorder, having taken up 
the work laid down by his father and success- 
fully carried it on. 

On December 23, 1S74, Mr. Winegard was 
united in marriage to Miss Maggie J. Weid- 
man, daughter of Nicholas and Ann (.Starkins) 
Weidman, of Schoharie County. Mr. and 
Mrs. Winegard have one child, a daughter, 
Lottie E. , wife of Benjamin I''. Empie, a mer- 
chant of Hyndsville and Town Clerk of 



•36 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Seward. Mr. and Mrs. Enipie are the jiroud 
parents of a bright baby girl, Bernice L. , born 
on February 2, 1899. 




i.ARTHOLOMF.W 11. CLUTE, one 

of the representative dairymen of 
Glenville, N.Y. , was born in Sche- 
nectady, June 21, I S3 1, son of Henry and 
Cathaline T. (Haverley) Clute. His grand- 
father, liartholomew Clute, served as a soldier 
in the Revolutionary War. He was for some 
time a boatman on the Mohawk River; and on 
one occasion he had for a passenger the British 
commander. Sir Henry Clinton. The maiden 
name of Grandfather Clute's wife was Margaret 
Peters. 

Their son, Henry Clute, ahove named, was 
a native of Schenectady. When a young man, 
he engaged in the grocery business, which he 
followed for the rest of his life. He died 
about 1S35. His wife, Cathaline, was a na- 
tive of (Bienville. Her paternal grandfather 
was John Haverley, a large land-owner of this 
town in his day. His death occurred the same 
night that the subject of this sketch was born. 
John 1 laverley married Anna Adams, a repre- 
sentative, it is thought, of the noted Massachu- 
setts family which has given two Presidents — 
John and John Ouincy Adams — to the United 
States. Henry and Cathaline T. Clute reared 
four children; namely, Susan II., Christian 
H., Harlholomew H., and John II. B. Clute, 
all of whom, exxept Bartholomew H., are re- 
sidiuii; in Rotterdam. The mother died Mav, 



1882. The parents were members of the Re- 
formed church. 

Bartholomew H. Clute passed his boyhood 
and youth in Schenectady and Glenville, and 
attended school in these places. His father's 
death threw him upon his own resources at an 
early age, and he began life as a workman in 
the broom factories of Schenectady at eleven 
dollars per month. In 1850 he went to Illi- 
nois, where he engaged in raising broom-corn 
on leased land. He also established a factory, 
and maniifactured the first lot of Western-made 
brooms ever sold in Chicago. Although this 
enterprise proved quite successful, the gold 
fever soon caused him to sell out, in order to 
try his fortune in California. Going there by 
the overland route, he followed various occupa- 
tions on the Pacific Coast for four years. Re- 
turning then to Schenectady County, he leased 
land in Glenville until 1863, since which year 
he has resided upon his present farm of one 
hundred and ten acres. He has a valuable 
piece of agricultural property, with good build- 
ings and modern improvements. He keeps 
from twenty to twenty-five cows, and derives 
considerable profit from the sale of milk. 

On October 20, 1858, Mr. Clute was joined 
in marriage with Agnes Swart, who was born 
in Glenville, April 13, 1832, daughter of 
J(jsias and Catharine (Vedder) Swart. Her 
parents belonged to highly reputable families 
of this county. Mrs. Clute is the mother of 
three children, namely: KitteV., who is now 
Mrs. McCulluni; h^lma, who is now Mrs. 
Uick ; and Clarence Clute. 

In politics Mr. Clute is a Democrat. To 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



IS7 



the energy and perseverance which served him 
so well in his boyhood days is due in a great 
measure the prosperity he now enjoys, his 
activity continuing unabated. Mr. and Mrs. 
Clute are members of the Reformed church. 



^^yOHN S. GARY, a well-known resident 
of Braman, in the town of Cobleskill, 
and proprietor of one of the oldest 
mills in this section of the county, was born 
in Schoharie, in a house on the road to 
Howes Cave, on July 19, 1827, son of Sam- 
uel and Mercy (Swan) Gary. 

His father, who was born in Stonington, 
Conn., was brought up in Sprakers Basin, 
Montgomery County, N.Y. , on a farm. He 
also worked somewhat during boyhood at raft- 
ing on the Mohawk River, but eventually 
came to the farm of George Lawyer in 
Schoharie Court House, and during the re- 
mainder of his life was engaged in farm labor, 
either there or on other farms in this county, 
working on shares. His wife, Mercy, was the 
daughter of a pioneer of Kno.x, Albany 
County, who built the first mill in that 
region. He was a stanch patriot in Revolu- 
tionary times, and was in active service in the 
army throughout the war, being eleven times 
wounded. His wife lived to the surprising- 
age of one hundred and three years. On her 
one hundred and third birthday she rode 
twenty miles on horseback, but the exertion 
was too much for her, and she died from its 
effects. Mrs. Mercy Gary was the youngest 
of quite a large family of children. Of her 



own children, seven in number, John S. was 
the youngest, and is now the only one living. 

Mr. John S. Gary spent his early years at 
Barnerville, where he attended the public 
schools. After leaving school he was en- 
gaged for a time in selling dry goods and 
small wares along the canal, but later settled 
in Orleans County, where he worked for si.x 
months in a wagon-building shop. At the 
end of that time he came to Barneiville, and 
opened a wagon-maker's shop in company 
with Henderson Pollock. After working 
there for some time he hired a shop near by, 
and carried on wagon-making and painting 
and some cabinet work. Going then to 
Schoharie, he worked at carriage-building in 
the winter and at painting in the summer for 
a few years, and then began working as a 
millwright along Cobleskill Creek and the 
Schoharie River Valley. He built a large 
number of grist and saw mills, and invented a 
water-wheel of which he afterward constructed 
and put in place about two hundred in this 
and adjoining counties. In 1S75 he came to 
his present mill. This he had repaired dur- 
ing his early millwright work, it having been 
built by his wife's grandfather, Peter Low- 
meyers in 1790. A part of the original 
structure is in use yet, and is in well-pre- 
served condition. The mill has two stories 
and a half. The lower floor is devoted to cus- 
tom and merchant work, principally to the 
manufacture of rye and buckwheat flour, which 
is marketed in New York and in other States. 
There arc three mill-runs, besides a "pony 
stone." The second floor is devoted to puri- 



'58 



l!I<)(;RArHKAL REVIEW 



fyiiiL? and storing the grain, while the top floor 
is used for scouring and cleaning grain and 
for storage. This is one of the oldest mil's 
in the section, as well as one of the largest 
run by water power. Mr. Gary has now been 
connected with milling interests for nearly 
half a century, probably longer than any other 
man now living in this region. 

On the last day of January, 1849, Mr. Gary 
was united in marriage with I'hoebe Gordon, 
a native of Garlisle and daughter of John Gor- 
don, a farmer of that town, who died at the 
age of sixty years. Mrs. Gary was one of a 
family of ten children, and has herself been 
the mother of eight, of whom five are living. 
•These are: Alice, Andrew, Laura, Rosalie, 
and Walter. The three deceaseil are: Har- 
riet, who dietl at the age of nine years of 
diphtheria; Retta, who died at the age of 
eighteen months; and Lyman H., who died 
at the age of si.K months. Alice, who married 
Henry Holmes McDonald, a carpenter and 
contractor of bridges, has three children — 
h'rank, John ]'., and Khoda. Andrew mar- 
ried Gynderilla Severson, and has four chil- 
dren — Hattie, Foster, Daisy, and Florence. 
The son, Foster, is a i)ainter and decorator 
in Cobleskill. Laura married Thomas Ghick- 
ering, a merchant of Lawyersville. Rosalie, 
who married Judd Bassett, ,1 farmer, has one 
child, Ralph G. Walter Gary, an engineer, 
married Jennie Merchant, and fas two sons 
— Olin and Emery P. 

Mr. Gary is Rc[)ublican in p(ditics. He 
takes a warm interest in all ]uihlic matters, 
but has never caretl to hold public office. He 



is a member of the Masonic lodge at Goble- 
skill, of De Witt Gouncil at Albany, and of 
John L. Lewis Ghapter at Gobleskill. He 
built the house in which he now resides, and 
two others near by which are rented to ten- 
ants; also one with a store adjoining, and 
owns more houses than any other man in 
town. In religious views Mr. Gary is a 
Methodist. He is connected with the Meth- 
odist church here, has been steward in the so- 
ciety for many years, and an active worker in 
the .Sunday-schocl. Mrs. Gary likewise has 
been a member of the church since her early 
girlhood. l\Tr. Gary is a progressive man. 
He has been keenly alive to every plan pro- 
mulgated for the improvement of the town, and 
has kept his own ])roperty in unexcelled con- 
dition. Down at the niiU he has built a large 
wall eleven feet high, containing boulders 
weighing a ton, to keep the water from over- 
flowing. His other real estate jiroperty also 
shows that it is constantly looked out for and 
ne\'er allowed to lack rejiairs. 




PL 



ff?)OUI.S A. BOKN.S, proprietor of La 
Tduraine, Tannersx'ille, was born in 
the north of France, February 8, 
1855, .son of Augustus and Josephine (de 
Sainte Roch) lioeiis. His jiarents were na- 
tives of Belgium, and his father, who was a 
farmer, died at the age of thirty-eight. His 
mother was twice married, and had si.x chil- 
dren, Louis being the eldest by her second 
husband. Mrs. ]?oens came to America with 
five of hei" children. She spent her last days 




HE.\KV S. UK FORK ST. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



i6i 



witli her son Louis, dying at the age of fifty- 
eight. 

Louis A. Boens accompanied the family to 
the United States, first settling in ISelport, 
Long Island, and a year later removing to 
Hunter. His training in the business of hotel- 
keeping was begun at the Laurel House, with 
which he was connected in different capacities 
for several years. In 1S89 be completed and 
opened La Touraine, which was built and fur- 
nished under his personal supervision, and has 
accommodations for fifty guests. It is a favor- 
ite resort for New York people, and has a large 
patronage. The table is a special feature, and 
is provided with poultry raised upon the 
premises. 

In 1886 Mr. Boens was united in marriage 
with Kate Askin. Her parents, John and 
Mary Askin, who are no longer living, had a 
family of si.xteen children. Mr. Askin was a 
native of Ireland. He died at the age of 
eighty years. The Boens family attend the 
Roman Catholic church. In politics Mr. 
Boens acts with the Democratic party. 



■?)JON. HENRY S. DE FOREST, e.x- 
Mayor of Schenectady and an exten- 
sive real estate dealer, was born in 
this city, February 16, 1S47, son of O. L. 
and Sarah (Vedder) De Forest. 

His great-grandfather Ue Forest and his 
grandfather De Forest, both of whom were 
named Jacob, were lifelong residents of Sche- 
nectady County. Jacob De Forest, second, 



was a well-to-do farmer and the father of a 
large family of children, one of them a son 
Jacob, who became a prosperous farmer, and 
another Martin, who accpiired wealth in mer- 
cantile pursuits, and was a man of prominence 
in this section of the State. 

O. L. De F'orest, born in this county in 
1806, son of the second Jacob, was a cooper 
by trade, and followed that business in this 
city successfully for a number of years, or until 
his death, which occurred in 1859. He served 
as Sheriff of Schenectad}' County and also as a 
Deputy. 

His wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Nicholas 
Vedder, of Schenectady County, whose ances- 
tors were among the early Dutch settlers in 
the Mohawk valley. Seven children were 
born of their union, namely: Anna, who died 
young; Rebecca, wife of Stephen D. Gates, of 
this city; Jacob, a furniture dealer, who 
served as Sheriff one term, and died in 1894, 
aged about sixty-two years, leaving a widow and 
five children; Ella, wdio married Christopher 
Van Slyck, and died in 1894, leaving two 
children; Frank V., Assistant Chief of Police; 
Henry S., the subject of this sketch; and 
Lansing, a farmer in the town of Glenville, 
this count)-. The mother, Mrs. Sarah Vedder 
De Forest, died in 1867, aged fifty-nine years. 
Henry S. De Forest attended the Union 
School, and completed his studies with a com- 
mercial course at Eastman's Business College, 
I'oughkeei)sie. Entering the emjiloy of his 
brother-in-law, Christopher Van Sl\'ck, a 
broom manufacturer, as clerk and book-keeper, 
he was later admitted to partnership; and 



l62 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



after the dissolution of tliat firm, in 1878, he 
became extensively engaged in tlie cultivation 
of broom corn, which he carried on success- 
fully for eight years. When a young man he 
displayed a decided preference for the real es- 
tate business, and his first land ])urchase con- 
sisted of two lots for which he paid one hun- 
dred dollars each. About the year 1886 he 
turned his attention exclusively to city prop- 
erty, his transactions in which during the last 
twelve years have amounted to two million 
dollars. He organized the syndicates which 
erected the Edison Hotel, at a cost of one hun- 
dred and eighty-five thousand dollars, and the 
\'an Curler Opera House, com|ileted in 1893 
at a cost of (jne hundred antl two thousand 
dollars, of which he is the largest individual 
owner. I're\ious to the business depression 
of 1893, and since 1897, he lias erected man)- 
hundreds of buildings for residence and business 
purposes. He has laid out several thorough- 
fares, including Foster A\enue, nam jil in honor 
of Professor John Foster, of Union College; 
Summit and East .Avenues; and Terrace Place. 
These localities have been protected against 
the encroachments of tlie litjunr traffic largely 
through his instrumentality, and his excellent 
judgment in regard to the real estate interests 
of the city has jiroved exceedingly beneficial 
to projjerty holders. He is one of the largest 
owners of the Metropolitan Asiihalt Pavement 
Company, which was organized in 1895, and 
which has paved the princi|ial streets of this 
city in a most satisfactory uKuiner. He is con- 
sidered to-day the most extensive real estate 
dealer and owner in Schenectadw He is also 



the largest owner in the Sclienectady Daily 
Gazette, the leading newspaper in the city. 

Politically, he is a Democrat. He served 
as City Recorder four years and as Mayor for 
the same length of time, and deserves much 
credit for giving the city a sound and progres- 
sive administration. He was active in secur- 
ing the erection of the new brick railway sta- 
tion, and an entirely new sewer system was 
among the number of pidjlic improvements 
completed iluring his term of office. 

On Sejitember 6, 1876, Mr. De Poorest mar- 
ried Lucy E. Wan lipps, of this cit\-, daugiiter 
of the late Harmon \'an lipps. They have 
two daughters, namely : Ik'ulah, a recent grad- 
uate of Lasell Seminar}-; and Pearl, aged 
ele\'en years. 

I\h'. iJe P'orest is a ilirector of the Schenec- 
tady State Hank. He is a Master Mason and 
a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation. His business office is located at 
420 antl his residence at 436 State .Street. 
As noted above, his influence and judgment 
have long been prominent factois in shaping 
the course of [niblic improvements in this city. 
The fact that he began business without capi- 
tal will enable those readers of the Rr;\ii'.\v 
who ha\e hitherto been unfamiliar with his 
early business life to better appreciate his un- 
tiring eneig}' and perseverance. 



I1.\UNCP:V smith, of WVst Cat- 

skill, N. \'., dcLdei- in coal, bay, 

straw, and grain, was boiii in Rox- 

bur\', Helaware Coinit)', this State, on July 




BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



163 



25, 1847. His parents were Jonas M. and 
Deborah (Kater) Smith, both natives of Rox- 
bury. His paternal grandfather was David 
Smith, a native of Scotland. Immigrating to 
this country, Da\id Smith settled in Roxbury, 
and there made his home many years, his 
death occurring at the advanced age of ninety- 
one. His wife, Jane More, also born in Scot- 
land, died at the age of eighty-nine. She was 
the mother of a large family of children, of 
whom the only survivor is R. B. Smith, of 
Cortland, N.Y. 

Jonas M. Smith was reared on a farm in 
Ro.xbury. He was educated in the public 
schools, and he subsequently taught school for 
a while. Going west as far as Illinois, he 
lived for a time in that State, and then re- 
turned to his native town and started a variety 
store, which he carried on until 1863. Re- 
moving in that year to Ashland, Greene 
County, he engaged in farming, also devoting 
his energies to some extent to mercantile 
affairs. Subsequently he came to Catskill, 
where he died at the age of seventy-five. He 
was a man of influence, and served as Town 
Supervisor for four terms, as well as in other 
positions of trust. His wife died at the age 
of fifty-nine. All her four children are living. 
They are: Chauncey, Mary, Nettie, and 
Addie. Mary married William H. Tompkins, 
of Ashland. Nettie is now Mrs. Lewis, and 
Addie is Mrs. VViers. 

Chauncey Smith remained in his native 
town imtil he was seventeen years of age. 
Going then to Ashland, he remained there 
thirteen years, and at the end of that time he 



came to Catskill. In 1877 he was engaged in 
the steamboat business at the Point, and fiom 
1S78 until 1892 he was in the flour and grain 
business. For a part of this time, some nine 
years, he also carried on a mill. He met with 
excellent success, but finally gave up all other 
business interests, and has since devoted him- 
self to his coal and grain business, which is 
one of the most prosperous enterprises in the 
town. In 189S he erected the building whicii 
he now uses. He has both wholesale and re- 
tail trade, and is known as a man thoroughly 
estimable and upright. 

In 1870 Mr. Smith was united in marriage 
with Aravesta Lewis, who was born in Dur- 
ham. Eight children have blessed this union; 
namely, Vernon M., Howard C, Rayniontl E., 
William H., Lizzie, Robert C. , Arthur, and 
Clifford H. Vernon M. Smith is in the real 
estate and insurance business in Iowa and 
Minnesota. He married Maud Jennings, and 
has one son, Chauncey Joseph. Howard C. is 
a dealer in h(5rses, and resides in this town. 
He married Carrie Crawford. Raymnntl and 
William are in school. 

Mr. Smith is a Republican. He is a mem- 
ber of the Water Board and of the School 
Board, and a trustee in the Savings Bank. 
He was one of the organizers of the Catskill 
Rural Cemetery, and is one of its trustees. 
He and his wife and three of their sons are 
members of the Methodist church. Mr. Smith 
is a trustee of the church, and Mrs. Smith has 
been a teacher in the Sunday-school. Both are 
earnestl)' interested in all efforts to promote 
the moral and spiritual growth of mankind. 



.64 



BIOGRAriilCAL REVIEW 



(sTr^^'J^ If- STERNBKRG, vice-president 
and director of the Sliaron, Seward, and 
Carlisle Insurance Company, and a 
leatling ho|i-gro\ver of Seward, resides on the 
Lniicnburg turnpike about thiee miles from 
Seward village. He was born on the Sternberg 
homestead in this town on April 17, 1S32, son 
of Abraham and Anna M. (Wornnith) Stern- 
berg, and is a representative of one of the old- 
est families in Schoharie County. His great- 
grandfather, Nicholas Sternberg, who was 
born ill Schoharie, was a lineal descendant of 
Lambert Sternberg, who came to America from 
Germany. 

Nicholas Sternberg was one of the pioneer 
settlers of the town of .Sharon, now Seward. 
He cleared land and bulk a log cabin near the 
site where John H. Sternberg now lives. He 
became x'ery [irosperous, and a ])romincnt man 
in this section, and owned a tluur-mill and 
some thiee hundred acres of land. 

John .Sternberg, son of Nicholas, and grand- 
father of John II. .Sternberg, w^as born on the 
homestead and reared there. The property 
eventually reverted to him, and he spent his 
life in improving it. He built the present 
house. A man of intelligence and .sound judg- 
ment, he was highly respected by all with 
whom he came in contact, and he was an espe- 
cially valued member of the Lutheran church, 
in which he held at different times all the 
offices. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Anna Shafer, was a native of this region. 
She died at the advanced age of eighty years. 
All of the eleven children born to this worth)' 
pair grew to maturity. One of tlie sons. 



named Le\i, was educated for the ministry in 
the Lutheran church. John Sternberg served 
for a time as Coroner. 

Abraham Sternberg was born in the house 
built by his father, and w-as educated in the 
public schools of this district. He assisted 
his father on the farm for some time, and 
eventually assimied full management, carrying 
on general farming. He cultivated about two 
hundred acres of land. ^As a citizen he was 
active and well-informed, and for many years 
served as Supervisor, holding the office during 
the trying days of the Civil War. He was 
also Town Clerk for some years. For many 
years he was a trustee of the Lutiieran church, 
and was jjarticularly active at the time the new 
building was erected. He also held other 
offices of public trust, and was one of the 
first to introduce hop-growing into Schoharie 
County. He was also one of the original in- 
corporators of the I'irst National l^ank of 
Cohleskill. His wife, Anna, who is still liv- 
ing at the age of eighty-one, was one of a large 
family of children born to Henry VVormuth, of 
Sharon, an early settler here, and by occupa- 
tion a tanner and currier. As was her hus- 
band, she has been a lifelong member of the 
Lutheran church. .She has been the mother of 
eight children, of whom there are still li\"- 
ing — John H. ; James H., who is a physi- 
cian at Waterloo, N. \'. ; hving, a physician 
of Gouverneur, N.Y. ; Henrietta, who married 
l^arnahas I-lldred; and Jertmie, who is a banker 
in l'"rie, Pa. Jerome Sternberg has two sons, 
who are in the same bank with him. 

John H. Sternberg obtained a good ]iractical 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



165 



education in tlie [uiblic schools near his home 
and at Martwick Seminary. After completing 
his studies he was for some years engaged in 
farming on different farms away from Seward; 
but in 1892 became back to his native place 
and settled on his present farm, where he has 
since been largely engaged in hop culture. 
He has about fifty-two acres devoted to raising 
this important crop. Mr. Sternberg was one 
of the incorporators of the Sharon, Seward, 
and Carlisle Insurance Company, of which he 
has ever since been a director and agent, and 
for the last si.x years vice-president. The 
company is in a very prosperous condition, and 
has a capital of a million and a quarter of 
dollars. 

In politics Mr. Sternberg is a Democrat. 
He has been Collector of the town for some 
time, and for a period of eight years, begin- 
ning in iSgo, he filled the ofifice of Suijervisor. 
He is the only man in the town who has held 
this important oflice for so long a time. Mr. 
Sternberg has been a lifelong member of the 
Lutheran church, and has officiated in all the 
different church offices. He is at the present 
time serving as a trustee of the society. He 
has also been warmly interested in the work of 
the Sunday-school, and was formerly a teacher 
therein. His wife is connected with the 
church, and has also been a worker in the Sun- 
day school. A number of their children are 
church members. 

Mr. Sternberg was united in marriage on 
January 30, icS65, with M. Ellen Eldredge. 
She was born in Sharon, near Sharon Springs, 
daughter of Robert Eldredge, a native of 



Sharon Springs. Her grandfather, Iiarnabas 
Eldredge, was among the first settlers of that 
place, and owned nearly all of the land where 
the present village now stands. He kept a 
tavern, and was interested in the manufacture 
of saleratus. His seven sons, to each of whom 
he gave a fine farm, became prominent men in 
their section of the State, and some of them 
were well-known hotel-keepers. They were 
acti\-e in public affairs, and creditably perpet- 
uated the memory of their father. Barnabas 
Eldredge died at the age of seventy-two. He 
was widely acquainted, and commanded the re- 
spect of all who knew him. 

Robert Eldredge was reared in his native 
town. He sold the farm given him by his 
father, and bought another near the church in 
-Sharon, comprising about two hundred acres, 
and located thereon a house and store. For 
twelve years he was in business there, a well- 
known merchant and a successful one. He 
was at one time judge of the county, and 
usually went by the name of Judge Eldredge. 
He was also a Justice of the Peace, and his 
opinion and advice were eagerly sought on im- 
portant occasions. He died at the age of fifty- 
three. Although not connected officially with 
any church organization, he was a man of 
straightforward Christian principle, and a be- 
liever in the doctrines of the Universalist 
church. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Margaret Adams, is still living at Cobleskill, 
in the full possession of all her faculties at 
the ath'anced age of ninety-one years. She 
was born in the town of .Sharon. .Six of her 
seven children grew to maturity, and four of 



i66 



BI0GRA1>H1C.\[, REVIEW 



them are living, namely: Jdhn A. ; .M. Ellen; 
Spencer, who resides at Dwiglit, 111. ; and 
James, who is a merchant and Postmaster in 
California. Horatio Olcott and I^lizabcth are 
deceased. 

Mrs. Sternberg resided with her |)arents 
until her marriage. She was educated in the 
common schools and in Ciierry Valley Acad- 
eni)-. She has three children ; namel)-, How- 
ard J., Charles A., and Robert K. The first 
of these, who married Anna Vorhees, is jjro- 
prietor of a hotel at Seward. Five children 
have been boi'n to him, of whom four are liv- 
ing, namely: Grace A., who is with Mrs. 
Sternberg, and is attending school; Julia A. ; 
George V. ; and Le Kay. Charles A. Stern- 
berg married for his first wife Lizzie Clark, 
who died at the age of twenty-two. He mar- 
ried for his second wife Mamie Clark. He is 
a graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical Col- 
lege in New York City, and is now in practice 
at Gloversville, having gone to that place from 
Howes Cave. Robert Sternberg married 
Louise Sneclecor. They have one child, I'Tor- 
ence Louise, born June 17, 189S. Robert 
Sternberg was born in Seward and worked 
on the farm until he was sixteen years old. 
He then attended Hartwick Seminary for 
three years, and subsequently took a four 
years' course at Cornell University, gradu- 
ating in i8go with the degree of Bachelor 
of Laws. He then taught school in Blue 
Point, Long Island, for a time, and has since 
been appointed School Commissioner of the 
second district of Schoharie County, succeed- 
ing Thomas K. P'inegan. He has held the 



office since January i, 1893, and is regarded 
as one of the most efficient officers in educa- 
tional work in this section of the State. He 
has fillet! in his leisure moments studying law, 
and was admitted to the bar in March, 1899. 



's^OSKl'H PUTMAN, who cultivates a 
productive farm in Rotterdam, .Sche- 
nectady County, N.\'. , was born in this 
town May 3, 1833, son of Aaron and Nancy 
(Hagerman) Putman. His father was born 
here in 1805, and his grandfather, John Put- 
man, was among the early residents. His 
great-grandfather, Aaron Putman, first, who 
came from Holland, settled in Rotterdam as a 
pioneer. All of the above-named ancestors 
were industrious farmers. 

Aaron Putman, second, son of John, im- 
[jroved the farm which his son Joseph now 
owns, and was one of the able farmers of his 
day. In politics he acted with the Republican 
party, and was a Justice of the Peace for sev- 
eral years. He was a member of the Dutch 
Reformed church, and an earnest advocate of 
temperance. He died at the age of seventy- 
si.x )'ears. Nancy Hagerman Putman, his 
wife, was a native of Amsterdam, N. Y, and 
the locality in that town known as Hagerman's 
Mills was named for her father. Of her chil- 
dren two are living, namel\' : John A. Putman, 
a real estate dealer in Brookhn; and Joseph, 
the subject of this sketch. 'Phe others were : 
Dr. P'rancis D. Putman, who died at the age 
of twenty-three; Maggie V. Hagerman, who 
dieil November 19, 1875; Klizabeth, who be- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



167 



came Mrs. Sauter, and died in 1897; Ernes- 
tus H., who died at tiie age of ten years; and 
two children who died in infancy. The 
mother lived to be eighty- two years old. 

Joseph Putman acquired his education in the 
schools of Rotterdam and Syracuse. When 
thirteen years old he made himself useful 
about the farm, and after completing his stud- 
ies he gave his entire attention to farming at 
the homestead. At the time of his marriage 
he began to work the farm on shares, and he 
continued to do so until his father's death, 
when he purchased the interest of the other 
heirs. He owns one hundred and twenty-five 
acres of desirably located land, which afford 
excellent opportunities for both tillage and 
pasturage, and, aside from raising the usual 
crops, he disposes of the milk of from fifteen 
to twenty cows. 

On September 10, 1862, Mr. Putman was 
joined in marriage with Martha E. Shufelt, 
who was born in Rotterdam, September 6, 
1840. Her parents, George and Pauline 
(Britton) Shufelt, are not living. Her father 
was a prosperous farmer. Mrs. Putman is the 
mother of two daughters — Purlie and Minnie, 
both of whom reside with their parents. Pur- 
lie married Van D. Sager, a building contrac- 
tor, and has one son, Clinton Sager, who was 
born June 22, 1892. Minnie is the wife of 
George H. Putman, an employee at the Edison 
Electric Works, Schenectady, and has one son, 
Joseph W. , who was born January 9, 189S. 

Although taking a lively interest in town 
affairs, and supporting at the polls the candi- 
dates for local positions whom he considers 



most desirable, Mr. Putman has never cared to 
hold i)ublic office himself. In national elec- 
tions he acts with the Republican party. He 
is sincerely respected for his sterling integrity 
and high moral chai"acter. He is a member of 
the Reformed church. 



^OHN B. KNIFFEN, late a leading hop- 
gr-ower of Middleburg, N. Y. , and, at 
the time of his death, on January 25, 
1899, the only hop-buyer with an office in the 
town, was born at New Baltimore, Greene 
County, on Jidy 5, 1S35. H<2 "^^'^s ^ ■''"" of 
John and Sophia (Ci'ook) Kniffen, and de- 
scended from a line of agriculturists sprung 
from English stock. His first ancestor in this 
country came from England to a farm in New 
Jersey. His grandfather Kniffen removed 
from New Jersey to this State in early man- 
hood, and spent the remainder of his life in 
New Baltimoi-c, where he died in extreme old 
age, lacking only three years of having reached 
a full century. 

John Kniffen, father of John B., was born 
in New Baltimore, and was there educated in 
the public schools. He was reared to a 
farmer's life, but also did some work at the 
stone cutter's trade. Although strong and 
healthy, with every prospect of a long life, he 
was stricken dcjwn in the fulness of manhood, 
and died at the age of fifty-three from ty[)hoid 
fever. He was a zealous member of the Meth- 
odist F^piscopal church, one of the trustees of 
the society, and for many years a class leader. 
He was a noted exhorter and a powerful man 



1 68 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in prayer. His wife, So])hia, who died at the 
age of seventy-six, was also a lifelon<; and ac- 
tive Methodist. She was the motiier of four 
sons and live dauglUers, and of these nine cliil- 
dren the subject of this sl<etch was the latest 
survivor. 

Jolm B. Kiiiffen received a practical educa- 
tion in tlie pidjlic schools, and durinj;- vacation 
time worked on his father's farm, where he 
learned the art of successful farming. At 
eighteen years of age he came to Middleburg, 
where until he reached his majority he worked 
by the month on farms, and at the same time 
made arrangements so that he was enabled to 
attend school iluring the winter. At the age 
of twenty-one he purchased a farm of some 
forty acres, which formed the nucleus of his 
later splendid property of over three hundred 
acres. As a farmer he was very successful ; 
and he and his son, who was in business with 
liim for a number of years, were looked upon 
as two of the most progressive agriculturists in 
this legion. The Kniffen estate embraces 
jjractically two farms, both of which arc in a 
high state of cultivation. All the buildings 
on the farm upon which he lived, and also the 
house wdiere his son lives, were built by Mr. 
Kniffen. In iS6o he began the culture of 



lops in a small wa}', being among 



the first 



here to engage in that enterprise. He con- 
stantly increased the scale of his o])erati()ns, 
and in his later years had some fifty acres de- 
voted to hop-growing, producing annually some 
one hundred and twenty-five bales of hops. In 
1880 he began Iniying hojis, and fiom that 
time on he was interested with Cliarlcs S. 



May, wlio is proprietor of one of tlie largest 
hop markets in Albany. Mr. Kniffen was the 
first man in Middleburg to become a buyer, 
and he was latterly, as before mentioned, the 
only one in town who had an office. He 
raised grain of different kinds on his farm. 
Mr. Kniffen was married in 1S55 to Tabitha 
Wormer, a native of Middleburg, and daughter 
of John Wormer, a successful and ]irominent 
farmer of this jjlace. Of the four sons and 
four daughters born of this union, seven chil- 
dren are living, namely: I']mer\- \\'., who was 
in business with his father; luskine; Mstella; 
Amoretta; Kvchn ; Frank; and lilliot. I''r- 
skine, who married Molly ]5owman, is in the 
insurance business connected with the Mutual 
Reserve Friend Association. Estella is the 
wife of Luther Jackson, overseer of the North 
Shore Road at .South Schenectady, and is tlie 
mother of seven children — John, h'lora, 
I""rank, Harry, Claude, Clarence, and I^'ord, 
who is deceaseil. Aniorctta married Charles 
D. Mitchell, who is in a shoe factory at I5ing- 
hamton. They have a family of three chil- 
dren — by name, lielle, Clifford, and I'^orrest. 
Evelyn is the wife of Clarence McHain, a 
member of the firm of Bassler & Co., of Mid- 
dleburg, and she is the mother of four children 
— Nellie, John, Louisa, and Alice Leona. 
Frank, who also is a farmer and was interested 
in business with his father, married Dora 
Crosby, and has one daughter, Delia. Flliot 
Kniffen resides near the old home, and is in- 
terested in bee culture, in poultry raising, and 
in general farming. He married lilla \'an 
Voras. 




CEORGE \V. IJKI.LIXCKR. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



169 



In politics Mr. Kniffen was a stanch Demo- 
crat. He was a member of Middleburg 
Lodge, No. 66t,, V. & A. M., with which he 
had l3een connected for twenty years, and he 
was buried with Masonic honors. He fol- 
lowed the religious faith of which his father 
was so devoted a disciple, and was one of the 
strong men in the Methodist church at Middle- 
burg. He was a member of it for forty years, 
and his wife and nearly all of his children are 
members. At the time the new church edifice 
was erected, Mr. Kniffen contributed a thou- 
sand dollars toward its construction. 



/3)eORGE W. BELLINGER, editor and 
V|^J_ publisher of the Cobleskill Iitdcx at 
Cobleskill, N.Y., was born in this town, De- 
cember 18, 1843. His father, George Bel- 
linger, was born, bred, and educated in 
Seward, Schoharie County, where he worked 
at farming until sixteen years old, and then 
learned the blacksmith's trade. When ready 
to establish himself permanently, George Bel- 
linger came to Cobleskill, and was here indus- 
triously employed at his trade until his death, 
June 26, 1867. He married Miss Caroline 
Shafer, a daughter of Jacob Shafer, a prosper- 
ous farmer of this town, and a descendant of 
one of its earlier pioneers. Two children 
were born of their union; namely, George W., 
and a child that died when young. The 
mother is still living in Cobleskill. 

George \V. Bellinger received a practical 
education in the public schools of his district. 
Having become interested in the subject of 



photography when a young man, he had an 
opportunity to learn the art in 1865, when Mr. 
Oswald Burnett opened the first regular studio 
in the town on the third floor of the building 
now occupied by Charles H. Schaffer. Mr. 
Bellinger proved an apt pupil, and in a short 
time bought out his employer. Being a man 
of enterprise and good business ability, well 
endowed with artistic talent, he met with e.\- 
'cellent success, and, having gained a wide 
reputation for superior skill, he won an exten- 
sive and lucrative patronage in this and sur- 
rounding town.s. Removing to the present 
site of the dental parlors of Dr. L. T. Browne, 
he there carried on his work until the fire of 
1873, which destroyed all of his equipments. 

The following month Mr. Bellinger em- 
barked in a new career. He bought the 
Cobleskill Index, which was established in 
1865 by William H. Week and the Hon. 
Henry E. Abel, and during the twenty-six 
years that this paper has since been under his 
management be has kept it in a leading posi- 
tion among the local journals of Schoharie 
County. It has been greatly enlarged, its cir- 
culation increased fourfold, and its subscrip- 
tion rate reduced from a dollar and a half to 
one dollar per year. Through its columns he 
has been a strong advocate of all movements 
tending to benefit the community, and has ren- 
dered valuable aid to the Democratic party by 
his sound and stirring editorials. He has also 
been influential in establishing different organ- 
izations in the locality, among them being the 
Cobleskill Agricultural Society, ft)rnied in 
1876, largely by his personal efforts and his 



lyo 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



"talks" on the subject in the Index. Mr. 
Bellinger was a member of this association's 
board of management from its inception to the 
year 1S9S, and during a like period he served 
without salary as its secretary. 

He has also been secretary and treasurer of 
the Cobleskill Rural Cemetery Association six 
years, and has served two terms as one of the 
village trustees. He is i)rominently connected 
with the I'arniers' and Merchants' Bank, of 
which he was one of the ])rojectors, as a mem- 
ber of the finance committee, and is president 
of the Schoharie and Otsego Mutual l'"ire In- 
surance Company. In politics he has always 
been a loyal Democrat. 

In the year 1871 Mr. Bellinger niairied 
Miss Minnie Moulton, the only daughter of 
the Hon. F. P. Moulton, an able and influen- 
tial citizen of Montgomery County. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bellinger have two children, namely: 
Vernon M., teller in the Farmers' and Mer- 
chants' Bank ; and Maud S. 




"1:RBI:RT KIPP, general merchant and 
proprietor of the Kipp House, Le.\- 
ington, Greene County, N. Y. , was 
b(jrn in this town March 6, 1852, son of Isaac 
antl Nancy (Van Heusen) Kipji. He is of 
Dutch descent. Isaac Kipp, first, his great- 
grandfather, was a pioneer settler of Dutchess 
County, New York. Benjamin Kipp, son of 
Isaac, first, resided in Dutchess County until 
twenty-one years old, when he came to Greene 
County. The trades of a carjicnter and mill- 
wright, which he had previously learned, he 



followed in this locality for twenty years, or 
until 1802, when he purchased a farm in Lex- 
ington. Here he resided until his death, 
which occurred in 1837, at the age of si.\ty 
years. He married Sally Noyes, a native of 
New Jersey, and became the father of eleven 
children. The survivors of this family are: 
Isaac, second; and Harriet, who married a Mr. 
Jones, of Hartford, Conn. Mrs. Sally N. 
Kipp died at the age of seventy-one years. 

Isaac Kipp, second, father of Herbert, was 
born in this town, Ajiril 12, 1818. He fol- 
lowed farming on the homestead until 1S50, 
when he went to California, and was fairly 
successful in the gokl mines on the middle 
fork of the American River. After spending 
a \-ear there, he returned to Lexington, and re- 
mained on the home farm until 1858, when he 
made a trip to Pike's Peak. In 1877 he opened 
the general store now carried on by his .son, 
and under the firm name of 1. Kijip & Son 
conducted a profitable enteriirise until 1887, 
when he disposed of his interest and went to 
Nebraska. The next five years he spent ujion 
a farm in that State, and then he once more 
returned to his native town, where he is now 
residing with liis son. In politics he is a 
Democrat. He was .Sujiervisor two terms, and 
he acted as a Justice of the Peace forty years. 
He is a member and a trustee of the Baptist 
church. His wife, Nancy, was a native of 
Lexington, daughter of Cornelius Van Heu- 
sen, a farmer. She died at the age of sixty 
years, having been the mother of six children. 
The five now living are: Mary, who married 
William II. Mosher, of South Dakota; C. L. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Kipp, who is Postmaster at Lexington; Her- 
bert, the subject of this sketch ; Jennie, who 
married R. L. Hogaboom ; and Edwin L. 
Kipp. 

Herbert Kipp was educated in the schools 
of Lexington and at Eastman's Business Col- 
lege, Poughkeepsie. He worked on the home 
farm and also had charge of a stage route until 
1876, when he went to Illinois and spent one 
year. In 1S77 he, in company with his 
father, engaged in general mercantile business 
in Lexington, and the partnership continued 
until 18S7, when he bought the elder Kipp's 
interest. For the next two years he was asso- 
ciated with his brother, C. L. Kipp, and since 
1889 he has conducted the establishment 
alone. He occupies two floors, the main store 
being thirty by fort}' feet, with an annex forty 
by twelve feet, and carries a full line of gro- 
ceries, boots, shoes, hats, caps, hardware, flour, 
grain, drugs, carpets, oil cloths, dry goods, 
notions, and other articles of general merchan- 
dise. In connection with his mercantile busi- 
ness he conducts the Kipp House, a favorite 
summer resort, accommodating fifty guests. 

In 1 88 1 Mr. Kipp was united in marriage 
with Miss Mary F. Jones, of Jewett, daughter 
of Benjamin Jones, a farmer, who resides with 
a son, and is now ninety years old. Mr. and 
Mrs. Kipp arc the parents of three children — 
Pearl, Clara May, and Ralph. 

Politically, Mr. Kipp acts with the Demo- 
cratic party. He was Postmaster under Cleve- 
land's first administration four years, held the 
same office three years during President Harri- 
son's, administration, and was Supervisor one 



term. He is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Kipp attend the Bap- 
tist church. 



OHN H. FRANCE, the representative 
of a pioneer family of Seward, Scho- 
harie County, has a well-improved farm 
located on the road to the Seward Depot, about 
six miles from Cobleskill and two miles from 
the village of Hyndsville. He was born in 
Seward, March 30, 1S34, and this town was 
also the birthplace of his father, Peter France 
— or Uncle Peter, as he was familiarly known. 
Tracing the line back to the great-grand- 
father, we find a Revolutionary patriot, of 
whom and his family this story is told: 
While he was off at Schoharie defending the 
fort, his sons, Henry and John, who had re- 
mained at home, were taken prisoners. John 
was killed; but Henry, the grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch, fortunately escaped from 
his captors, and after lying in the woods for a 
day or two made his way home. 

Henry France came to Seward in Colonial 
days, while yet a young man, and took up a 
tract of unbroken land in the depths of the for- 
est. A few years later he removed to an ad- 
joining farm, and was there engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits until his death, at the age of 
fourscore and eight years. He united with 
the Lutheran church in early manhood, but 
was afterward an active member of the Meth- 
odist church. He was interested in the cause 
of temperance, and through his influence the 
use of liquor in the harvest field was abolished. 



>7 = 



BIOGRArillCAL REVIEW 



II is wife bore him fourteen children, one of 
whom is now living — Gilbert, a farmer in 
Seward. 

Peter France spent his life of seventy-four 
years in Seward, receiving his education in the 
district school, and on the home farm acquir- 
ing a practical knowledge of agriculture. On 
leaving the parental roof he purchased land at 
Sewartl Vallc\-, then known as Neeley Hollow, 
where he spent some years. Selling that he 
bought the estate on which his son, John U., 
now resides, and from that time until his death 
was prominently identified with the agricult- 
ural interests of this part of the town. Pos- 
sessing a good fund of general information, 
and being a man f)f s(jund judgment, he was 
often called upon for counsel and advice, and 
his opinions were always respected. In poli- 
tics he affiliated with the Democrats prior to 
the Rebellion, but after that time was a stanch 
Republican. Iniluential in local affairs, he 
served as Overseer of the Poor and as High- 
way Commissioner for several years. His 
wife, Elizabeth Diefendorf, was born at Frey's 
15ush, Montgomery County, N. Y. , one of the 
twelve children of a jiioneer farmer, John Die- 
fendorf. Both parents united with the Meth- 
odist church when young, and as true Chris- 
tians exemplified its teachings in their tlaily 
lives, l^oth were active in church work, the 
father being class leader of the Seward Valley 
church society for many years, and their hosiji- 
lable home was ever open to the ministers of 
the circuit. They reared three children, as 
follows: John H., the subject of this sketch; 
Fmeline, wife of Sylvester Rewland, of Mnr- 



risville, N.Y. ; and Louisa. The latter, who 
died October 17, 1S92, after many years of 
illness, was wife of the late Norman Ottman, 
a graduate of the Normal School. Mr. Ott- 
man was for some years a teacher in Seward, 
and afterward was here engaged as a merchant 
until the breaking out of the Civil War. En- 
listing then as a private in Colonel Plllsworth's 
regiment, the One Hundred and Forty-fourth 
New York Volunteer Infantr\', he went bravely 
forth to serve his country, and was killed in 
battle. 

John H. France receivetl a gootl common 
school education, and till he was twenty-five 
years of age assisted his father in farming. 
Then taking the farm on shares, he carried it 
on successfully until the death of his father, 
when the whole estate of one hundred and 
twenty acres came into his possession. He 
has since continued in his chosen vocation, 
and besides harvesting excellent crojis of hay 
and grain each season he has raised large quan- 
tities of hops, a staple product of this region. 
He keeps about fifteen Jersey and Durham 
cows, and makes a fine quality of butter, with 
which he supplies private customers in Troy 
and -Albany. His farm is well equi|iped with 
modern machinery and implements for carrving 
on his work; and the buildings, wbich were 
nearly all erected by his father, are kc|)t in 
fine repair. 

Mr. P^rance is a Repul)lican in ixilitics, and 
has served as Inspector of hllections in his 
town. lie is a charter member of the local 
organization of fiood Templars, and also of 
the Seward Grange, P. of H., in which he has 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



17^ 



held all the offices up to Master. In the 
former society he was for several years the 
Chaplain. One of the most active and influ- 
ential members of the Methodist church, he 
materially assisted in building the new house 
of worship of this denomination, and in remod- 
elling the old one at Seward Valley. He was 
the first child christened in the first frame 
church edifice erected in this jjart of the coun- 
tr)-, and having joined the church at the age of 
sixteen, he is now, with but few e.vceptions, 
the oldest member of this locality. He has 
been trustee and class leader, and was for a 
number of years chorister of the Methodist 
Episcopal choir, in which he and his children 
sang. Since a boy of fourteen he has been 
connected with the Sunday-school as pupil, 
teacher, or superintendent, having held the 
latter position three terms, and during the 
past five years has had charge of the ladies' 
Bible class. 

Mr. France has been twice married. On 
June 12, 1855, was solemnized his union with 
Orpha Diefendorf. She was born in Seward, 
a daughter of George Diefendorf, and was one 
of fourteen children ; namely, Susan, Sylvester, 
Jacob, Henrietta, Salina, Jane, Judson, (.)rpha, 
Sophronia, Peter, Abraham, Wealthy, Rensse- 
laer, and Nancy. She died at the age of 
thirty-four years, leaving five children, of 
whom the following is a brief record : Clarence 
I.., a skilful farmer and able business man of 
Cobleskill, married Allie I'v.ose, and has three 
children — Anson, Grace, and Harry; luriory 
died at the age of four years; Welton, a farmer 
in Seward, married Clara Hevener, and has 



four children — Ezra, Sadie, Norman, and 
Hattie; Allie May, wife of Charles Sutpheii, 
a farmer near Richmondville, has three chil- 
dren — John, Emma, and Orpha; Lizzie mar- 
ried Jacob Van Woert, a son of the Rev. Jacob 
Van Woert, formerly pastor of the Dutch Re- 
formed church. Her husband, who for several 
years was an instructor in the Cobleskill High 
Schonl, died at the age of twenty-five years, 
leaving her with two children — Dora D. and 
Jacob H. She now lives with her father. 

On June 27, 1869, Mr. France married Mrs. 
Sarah Wigley, who was born at Fonda, Mont- 
gomery County, N. Y. , a daughter of Frederick 
Dockstaden, a farmer. By her first husband, 
Gilbert Wigley, she has one child, William 
Wigley, who is a fireman on the New York 
Central Railway. He married Ella Card, and 
has had three children — Willie, Bernice, and 
Byron, the last two being deceased. 




LEXANDER MacMILLEN, one of the 
most influential citizens of Carlisle, 
Schoharie County, was born in 
Bethlehem, Albany County, N.Y., on October 
4, 1842, son of James and Ellen N. (Waldron) 
MacMilJen. His great-grandfather MacMillen 
was a Scotch emigrant who settled in Alban_\'. 
His grandfather, who i^esided in New Scot- 
land, N. Y. , died there at eighty-si.x years of 
age. He was a farmer and a leading politi- 
cian among the old time Whigs. He occupied 
prominent civil offices, such as those of Super- 
visor and Ccdlector, and was one of the active 
and influential members of the Presbyterian 



'74 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



cluiich. He had a family of ele\cn children, 
seven sons and four daughters, all of whom are 
now deceased. They were: John, Andrew, 
James, Henry, Alexander, William, Aaron, 
Mary, Nancy, Catherine, and one whose name 
is not remembered. Of these, James, father 
of Alexander MacMillen, was the onh' one that 
settled in this county. Most of these brothers 
were Republicans politically, and were asso- 
ciated with the Presbyterian church. James, 
however, was a Methodist. He was a quiet, 
conservative man, thoroughly well-informed on 
the topics of the day. He left his childhood's 
home at about fourteen years of age, and a 
number of years after his marriage he came to 
Carlisle and bought the farm where his son 
Alexander, then eight years old, now lives. 
It was then known as the Henr)' Best farm. 
It contained, originally, a hundred acres, but 
since it came into possession of its present 
owner it has been enlarged by the addition of 
twenty acres. James MacMillen was married 
three times, and had two children — Alexander 
antl William. The latter enlisted in the 
northern army when under the age of the draft- 
mark, saw gallant service at Fairfax Court- 
house, and subsequently died of typhoid fever. 
He had i)reviously worked with his father on 
the farm; and his death, while a severe shock 
to all his family, was especially affecting to 
his father. 

Alexander MacMillen is the leading Repub- 
lican in Carlisle, and one of the most ])romi- 
ncnt in the county. Somewhat singular is the 
fact that he has attended only two caucuses in 
his whole life. Three times he has been Su- 



pervisor of Carlisle, being the secoml Repub- 
lican in this strongly Democratic town to hold 
that office, the other Republican holding 
it for only one term. Though a member of 
the minority party, he met with defeat only 
once or twice, and then by no larger majority 
than twenty. He has served for many years 
on the Republican county committee. Mr. 
MacMillen is the largest land-owner in town, 
and the wealthiest citizen of Carlisle. For 
the last twenty-eight years he has been a suc- 
cessful hop-grower, probably making a greater 
success of that industr\- than any other farmer 
in the locality. About a hundred acres of his 
farm are cleared land, and in addition to his 
hop crops he has raised general produce. He 
formerly owned three other farms, which had 
come to him through the foreclosures of mort- 
gages, but these he has now dis])osed of. He 
is the largest tax-pa\er in Carlisle. Mr. Mac- 
Millen was a stockholder in the old bank at 
Cobleskill, and is a charter member, stock- 
holder, and director in the new bank. He 
owns fifty shares, the largest number owned by 
one man. Mr. MacMillen and his wife are 
among the strongest sujiporters of the Meth- 
odist church in this ])lace, and both sing in 
the clioir. Mrs. MacMillen is a member of 
the church, and an active worker in the Sun- 
day-school, in which she has been a teacher 
for man}- years. When the Christian En- 
deavor .Society was starleil here, she became 
its president. 

The maiden name of Mrs. MacIMillen, who 
was married in 1S64, was P>cline Hraclt, and 
she is a daughter of William Bratit, deceased. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'75 



formerly a farmer of Cobleskill. Her paternal 
grandfather, who came hither from Albany 
County, cleared the farm and built the house 
now standing on it. Her grandfather, James 
Boughton, who lived to the advanced age of 
ninety years, was the leading man in the Pres- 
byterian church at Carlisle, and in his last 
years he sat in one of the chairs inside the 
altar rail. Mrs. MacMillen's father was a 
member of the Dutch Reformed church. He 
had a family of four children. Mr. and Mrs. 
MacMillen have one child, William A., who 
since attending the Albany Business College 
has been in business with his father. He 
married Ada Dockstader, and has one son, 
Irvin A. 




'RANK AKELEY, dealer in general 
merchandise at West Fulton, was born 
here on October 20, 185 1, his parents being 
James and Sally J. (Shutts) Akeley. 

James Akeley, who was born in January, 
1 812, came to this town in 1840, and settled 
on a fine farm of about two hundred acres, near 
what is now his son's store, and here he re- 
mained engaged in agriculture until his death 
in 1861, at about the age of fifty. His wife, 
Sally, survived him many years, and died in 
February, 1898. She was the daughter of 
John Shutts, of Greenville, Greene County, 
a lifelong and prominent farmer, and also a 
veterinary surgeon. Iler mother was of Con- 
necticut birth. Mr. and Mrs. Shutts had a 
family of four children. Of these the only 
survivor is Mrs. Salome Hart, who resides 



near Greenville. Seven children were born to 
Mr. and Mrs. James Akeley, and all are liv- 
ing. They are : Edgar, w-ho resides at Coble- 
skill; Emily, who is the wife of William 
Richards; Dr. John S., who is a physician in 
Ravena, Albany County; Martin A., who is 
County Clerk of Schoharie County; Lorenzo, 
farmer and Supervisor (1899) ; Frank, the sub- 
ject of this sketch; and Mary J., who married 
John Hinds, of Greenville. Both parents at- 
tended the Methodist church. 

Mr. Frank Akeley, after obtaining his educa- 
tion in the common .schools of his native vil- 
lage and at the Normal School at Albany, 
taught school for a while. In 1871 he went to 
work in the store of M. B. Fellows, situated 
opposite his present place of business, and 
there remained until 1875, when he went to 
New York for a short time. Later in the 
same year he returned, and began teaching the 
school at West F'ulton. During the farming 
season of that year, 1876, he worked for si.x 
months on a farm, but in the fall- taught school 
at Fulton. Not long after he bought his pres- 
ent building, and since that time he has had 
a prosperous career as a merchant. He carries 
a large stock of goods, including groceries, 
boots and shoes, dry goods, ready-made cloth- 
ing, underwear, glassware and hardware, patent 
medicines, and, to some extent, farming im- 
plements. A gradual increase of stock has 
made it necessary for him to have enlarged 
quarters; and, since starting, he has opened a 
second floor, so that he has now an exceedingly 
well-equi|5ped business. 

In politics Mr. Akeley is a Republican. 



176 



BIOGRAPHICAL RFA'IEW 



For a time he served as Assistant Postmaster. 
He was married in iSSi to Klniina Zeli, a na- 
ti\e of Hreakabeen, and daughter of Adam and 
Nancy (Shafer) Zeh. Mr. Zeh was a lifelong 
farmer. He had four children. After his 
death his widow married a second time. Mr. 
and Mrs. Akeley have one child, Hazel, who 
is at school. Mr. Akeley has .served on the 
county committee. He is liberal in religious 
views, and believes in dealing with unques- 
tionable honesty in all his business transac- 
tions. 




i:\'. CHARLES WADSWORTH 
I'lTCHER, pastor of the Reformed 
Dutch church at Middleburg, 
Schoharie County, is one of the most able, 
progressive, and popular clergymen of his de- 
nomination and a highly esteemed citizen. 
He was born March 2, 1S49, near Cohoes, 
Albany County, a son of the Rev. William 
Pitcher, whose birthplace was Red Hook, 
Dutchess County, N.Y. His paternal grand- 
father, who was an officer in the War of 1S12, 
was a prosperous farmer and an extensive land- 
holder at L'piier Red Llook, where he died at 
the advanced age of fourscore years. His 
wife, Catherine Kipp, also attained a ripe old 
age. Both were members of the Dutch Re- 
formed Church of Upper Red Hook. They 
had five children, none of whom are now^ 
living. 

The Rev. William Pitcher was reared on the 
home farm, and obtained his elementary educa- 
tion in the district school.s. He .subsequently 
studied at Williams College and Princeton 



Seminary. He began his professional life as 
pastor of a Dutch Reformed church at Jackson, 
N.Y. ; and three years later he assumed charge 
of the " ]5oght " church at Watervliet, three 
miles from the village of Cohoes. After a 
faithful service of thirteen years in that place 
he accepted a call to South Branch, Somerset 
County, N.J., where a church, .sniLilI in num- 
bers, had been but a short time organized. He 
labored there twenty-seven years, a long and 
successful pastorate, in which he built up a 
flourishing society. Going then to Greenwich, 
W'ashington County, N.Y. , he there lived in 
retirement until his demise, at the age of 
seventy-three years. He was a gifted speaker, 
a sermonizer of especial note; and many of his 
pulpit discourses, published in book form, 
were forcible exponents of his theological be- 
lief. A man of strong personality and unusual 
sweetness of character, he led a pure. Chris- 
tian life, and in a rare degree won the love 
and esteem of all with w^hom he came in con- 
tact. He was three times married. JHs first 
wife, Mary Ann Wadsworth, died in young 
womanhood, leaving one son, De Wilt Pitcher, 
now a book-keeper in Hudson, N. \'. His 
second wife, Jane I".. Wadsworth, sister to his 
first wife, was born at Bantam Falls, Litch- 
field County, Conn., a daughter of Henry 
Wadsworth, a prosperous merchant. She was 
a sister of the Rev. Charles Wadsworth, D. D. , 
of Philadelphia, and James L. Wadsworth, 
who is now living retired from active [uirsuits 
in Darien, Conn. Of the children born of 
this union two are now living, namely: 
Charles W. , the special subject of this sketch; 




CHARLES \V. ITICHKR 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



179 



and Jane E., wife of \V. B. Warner, a photog- 
rapher at Northport, Long Island. The mother 
died at the age of thirty-six years, and the 
father subsequently married Mary Ann McLean. 
The Rev. Charles W. Pitcher received his 
elementary education in the public schools of 
South Branch, N.J., which be left at the age 
of si.xteen years to go to New York City, 
where he was clerk in a jewelry store and in a 
dry-goods store for four }ears. He then con- 
tinued his studies at a select school in Ne- 
.shanic, N.J. , and at Rutgers Grammar School 
in New Bnmswick, which he attended two 
years, and after that at Rutgers College four 
years and at the theological seminary two 
years. On January 26, 1S76, having pre- 
viously been licensed to preach by the Newark 
Congregational Association, he was ordained 
to the ministry at Randolph, N. Y. , and at 
once took charge of the weak and struggling 
society, which in 1883 he left in a most flour- 
ishing condition, it ha\-ing doubled numeri- 
cally and financially under his efificient labors. 
The ensuing four years he was pastor of the 
church at Stanton, N.J., which under his 
guidance was wonderfully re\'ived, large num- 
bers being added to the organization, which 
increased in usefulness each year, and, accord- 
ing to the stated clerk of the classis to which 
it belongs, reached the highest degree of pros- 
perity in its history. From 1887 until 1891 
Mr. Pitcher had charge of the Kirkpatrick Me- 
morial Church at Ringoes, N.J., where his 
efforts were again blessed with success. Under 
his fervent and eloquent preaching of the 
gospel, great interest was awakened ; and, dur- 



ing a great revi\-al that followed, sixty mem- 
bers w-ere added to the church in one Sunda}', 
forty of the converts being baptized that da)'. 
Coming from there to Middleburg, he has 
here been exceedingly prospered in his relig- 
ious work, the church having grown as regards 
both its membership and its influence. A 
faithful and conscientious worker in the Mas- 
ter's \'ine)ard, he has not only endeared him- 
self to his immediate parishioners, but has won 
the respect of the entire community. 

On July 14, 1875, Mr. Pitcher was married 
to Anna M., daughter of Abraham and Ann E. 
(Naylor) Amerman. Her parents were natives 
and lifelong residents of Somerset County, 
New Jersey, where the mother died when 
sixty years old, and the father, who was a 
prominent citizen of South Branch, a miller 
and merchant, died at the age of threescore 
and ten years. Mrs. Pitcher is one of a fam- 
ily of four children, all of whom are li\'ing, 
the other three being: Theodore; Elizabeth, 
wife of Abraham S. Beekman ; and Louisa, 
wife of H. V. D. \'an Liew. Mr. and Mrs. 
Pitcher have had two children, namely: Le 
Roy, wlio li\-ed but nine months; and Anna 
Lee. Mrs. Pitcher, a woman of culture, is a 
thorough musician, being a talented singer and 
a fine pianist. While at Ringoes she was 
leader of the church choir, the organist in the 
Sunday-school, and one of its corps of teachers. 
She is a very acti\-e member of the church and 
of its \-arious societies, belonging to the Chris- 
tian Endeavor, the Ladies' Missionary Society, 
the Ladies' Aid Society, and the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. .She is presi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



(lent of the Woman's CLissical Union of Scho- 
harie County. 

The Dutcli Reformed Church of Middlc- 
burg is, with possibly an exception in Al- 
bany and Schenectady, the oldest society and 
worshipping in the oldest building in this part 
of the State. This house of worship was 
built in i/cSf), and has since been kept in ex- 
cellent repair. The funds for its erection were 
collected by committees sent through the colo- 
nies for the purpose, the struggling little so- 
ciety here, organized about 1730, being too 
poor to give much toward it. The meetings 
were probabl)- held in |)ri\Mte houses or barns 
until a small frame builtling was put up for its 
accommodation in 1732. That building, ac- 
cording to Roscoe, was dedicated in 1737. It 
was burned with the village on October 17, 
1780, and six years latei' replaced by the pres- 
ent edifice, in which the first sermon was 
preached November 18, 1787, the Rev. George 
W. Schneider being the minister. From the 
time of the first regularly ordained minister of 
the church, Ilendrick Hager, who was settled 
in 1713, the following have held pastorates: 
I'"red Hager, 1720; John Jacob Ehle, 1730; 
Reinhardt Krickson, 1732; Michael Weiss, 
U5^< Johannes Schuyler, 1736-55; John 
Mauiitius Goetschius, 1757-60; Abram Rosc- 
knintz, 1760-65; Johannes Schuyler, 1766-79; 
Rynicr Van Nest, 1780-85; George W. 
Schneider, 1785-88; J. C. Hoeffei, 1788-97; 
Rynier \'an Nest, 1797-1S04; David Devoe, 
1S12-15; John T. Schcrmeihorn, 1S16-27; 
John Garrctsnn, 1827-33; J- I^- Steele, 1834- 
38; Joshua l'ii)\(l, 1840-42; L. Messereau, 



1842-45; Jacob West, 1846-52; I. M. See, 
1852-54; E. Vedder, 1855-63; W. V.. 
I^ogardus; J. S. Scott, D. ])., 1865-70; 
S. W. Roe, ]). U., 1871-76; J. D. Gardner, 
1876-80; E. N. Sebring, 1880-S5; D. K. 
Van Doren, 1885-90; and the Rev. Charles 
W. Pitcher, 1891. 



;J^()1IN A, El'RGUSON, one of the best- 
known farmers in Duanesburg, N.V., 
was born in Princetown, in the same 
county, Schenectad)', January 24, 1822, son of 
Duncan and Hannah Ferguson. The parents 
were natives of Princetown, and the paternal 
grandparents, John and Janet Ferguson, were 
natives of Scotland. John Ferguson emi- 
grated |3rior to the Revolution, and he ser\-e(l 
as a soldier in that struggle. He was an 
early settler in Princetown, where he tilled the 
soil industriously for the rest of his active 
period, being one of the ]irogressi\c farmers 
of his tla)-. He and his wife lived to a good 
old age. 

Duncan Ferguson, the father, was a lifelong 
resident of Princetown, and for man\- years he 
carried on general farming with prosperous 
results. In politics he was at one time a 
Whig, and later a Republican. His family 
consisted of eight cliildren, two of wliom are 
lix'ing, naniel}-: John A., the suliject of this 
sketch ; and Duncan Ferguson, wlio resides at 
the homestead in Princetown. The others 
were: Thomas, Robert, Daniel, Jeanette, Ann, 
and Mary. The father lived to be eighty-two 
)ears old, and the mother died at about 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



iSi 



seventy-eight years old. They were members 
of the Presbyterian church. 

John A. Ferguson was educated in the dis- 
trict schools of Princetown. In 1S43, when 
twenty-one years old, he bought his first real 
estate, consisting of a farm of one hundred 
and fifty-five acres in Duanesburg, where he 
has since resided, and he is now the owner of 
other valuable lands. For a few years he was 
engaged in mercantile business at Esperance, 
Schoharie County; but general farming has 
been his chief occupation, and aside from 
growing the usual field and garden products of 
this locality, he raises cattle and sheep. 

Jn 1844 Mr. Ferguson was joined in mar- 
riage with Elizabeth Humphrey, who was born 
in Charlestown, Montgomery County, in 1823, 
daughter of William Humphrey. Two daugh- 
ters, Almira and Delia A., were born of this 
union, which lasted a little more than fifty 
years. Mrs. Ferguson died February i, 1895. 

Mr. Ferguson's farm contains substantial 
buildings. He is still cultivating it, and 
under his careful treatment it is made to yield 
large crops. His easy circumstances are the 
result of patient industry, and he possesses 
other excellent qualities which command the 
respect of all who know him. Politicalh', he 
acts with the Republican party. In his relig- 
ious belief he is a Presbyterian. 



AVID ENDERS, a prominent and 
well-to-do resident of Esperance 
township, N.Y. , was born at Scho- 
harie Junction, September 10, 1833, son "f 



JB 



Jacob P. and Eva (Kniskern) luiders. He is 
of the fifth generation in descent from Bar- 
drum Panders, who emigrated from Holland, 
and, settling as a pioneer in this county, became 
a large land-owner. A deed for twelve hundred 
and seventy acres, now in the possession of Mr. 
David Enders, was originally conveyed from 
King George in 1729 to Augustus Van Cort- 
land, who in turn transferred it to a person by 
the name of Holland. The latter transferred 
it to Mr. Dow, from whom it went to Bardrum 
Enders and his descendants. John Enders, 
son of Bardrum, reared a family of four chil- 
dren, one being a son Peter, who served as a 
soldier in the Revolutionary War. Peter len- 
ders became the owner of all but one-seventh 
of his grandfather Eardrum's property, and was 
an extensive farmer. lie hatl a famil_\- of two 
sons and si.x daughters, and among the latter 
were: Maria, who married John Enders; 
Christina, who married Joseph I. Borst ; 
Nancy, who married Philip Deitz; and an- 
other, who married Harmon Beecher. The 
sons were: Peter I., and Jacob P., the father 
of David. 

Jacob P. Enders followed general farming 
throughout the active ]5eriod of his life, and 
like his predecessors was noted for his energ)- 
and ability. He was a member of the Dutch 
Reformed church, was kind-hearted and cliar- 
itable, and his high character gave him consid- 
erable influence with his fellow-townsmen. In 
jiolitics he was a Democrat. He was the 
father of nine children; namely, Peter, John, 
David, the subject of this sketch, Maria, 
Elizabeth, Christina, Eva, Katharine, and Ma- 



l82 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



til(l:i. Of tlie (laughters four married. Peter 
resides in Esperance; John, who lived on the 
old homestead, was aceidentally killed by a 
runawa\' Jiorse. 

l)a\iil luiders received his education in the 
district schools, at the Richmondville Acad- 
emy, which was destroyed by fire some nine 
weeks after its opening, and at the Schoharie 
Acadeni)-, where his studies were comjjleted 
under Professor l^riggs. He resided at home 
until after his marriage, when he purchased a 
piece of pro])erty known as Slingerland farm, 
upon which he remaineil nine years, and then 
removed to the farm where he now resides. 
His homestead is considered one of the hand- 
somest in Sloansville. He takes a keen inter- 
est in the ach'ancement of the town, and as one 
of its wealthiest and most public-spirited resi- 
ilents his aid and influence are visible in all 
measures instigated therefor. He served as 
Railroad Commissioner for fifteen consecutive 
years, or until the board was abolished. He 
was elected to the Assembl\- in 1896, on the 
Democratic ticket, and serwtl with abilit\' 
upon the Committees on Interior Affairs, Vil- 
lages, and Agriculture. His interest in pub- 
lic affairs has in various ways proved beneficial 
to the communit}', and his well-known persis- 
tency is a sufficient guarantee that whatever he 
undertakes will be successfull}' accomjilished. 
This was recently demonstrated by the comple- 
tion of a fine new bridge over the Schoharie 
River at Sloansville, an improvement which 
was strenuous])' opposed by many, but through 
his instrumentality was finalh' built. 

Mr. I'-nders married for his first wife Mary 



E. Lark in, daughter of Daniel I.arkin. Two 
children were the fruit of this marriage, 
namely; Jacob, who died at the age of four 
years; and Nancy. For his second wife he 
married Emma Williams, daughter of Olaff 
H. Williams. 

Mr. Enders is a Master Mason, and belongs 
to Schoharie Lodge, No. 492. In his relig- 
ious belief he favors the Baptists, but contrib- 
utes toward the support of other churches. 
Mrs. Enders is a Lutheran. 



iClLME] 



:.MER E. KREIGER, proprietor of a 

Jl well-known restaurant in Prattsville, 

and a citizen prominently idcntifietl with the 
public affairs of this town, was born in Ash- 
land, X. v., March 7, 1861, son of lulward and 
Mahala (Benjamin) Kreiger. 

His father, who is a native of Germany, was 
engaged in a revolutionary movement there 
which resulted in his being obliged in 1S47 to 
seek refuge in the United States. Locating 
in Prattsville, he was in the employ of Smitli 
& Ofler for five years, at the end of which time 
he moved to Ashland, where for the succeeding 
nine years he was engaged in farming. Next 
corning to HuntersHeld, he continued to carry 
on general fanning until uS'SS, when he re- 
tired from active labor. He is now sevent)'- 
five years old, and is residing in the village of 
Prattsville. Mis first wife, Mahala, who was 
a daughter of Josejih Benjamin, of Prattsville, 
became the mother of four children, all of 
whom grew to maturity. One son was acci- 
dentally killed while gunning in 1893, at the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'83 



age of thirty-four years. The living are: 
Frank, who is residing on the farm in Hun- 
tersfield; Kate, who married Merritt Alberti ; 
aiid Elmer E., the special subject of this 
sketch. Mrs. Mahala Kreiger died in 1863, 
aged thirty-six years. Edward Kreiger mar- 
ried for his second wife Mary Ham, by whom 
he has one child, a son, who is residing in this 
town. 

Elmer E. Kreiger was educated in the ]nib- 
lic schools. He remained at home until 
twenty-two years old, when he became an as- 
sistant on the Stanley Hall farm, and at the 
end of one year was given the entire charge of 
that property, which contains five hundred 
acres. During his fourteen years as manager 
of this establishment he met with good 
financial results. After leaving Stanley Hall 
he bought a farm of two hundred acres in the 
town of Gilboa, which he sold to good ad\-an- 
tage a year later, and, coming to Prattsville in 
1894, he engaged in the restaurant business. 
He was also quite an extensive speculator in 
cattle prior to relinquishing agricultural pur- 
suits, and in that business he became widely 
known throughout this section of the State. 
As a prominent Democrat he takes a lively in- 
terest in political affairs, and is very popular 
with his fellow-townsmen. He was elected to 
the Board of Supervisors for the years 1893, 
1S94, 1895, 1896, and 1S97 by a large major- 
ity, and during those years he frequently acted 
as temporary chairman of that body. 

Mr. Kreiger is unmarried. He was made a 
Mason at the age of twenty-two, and is now 
Junior Warden and a trustee of the Blue 



Lodge in this town. He is a director, and 
superintendent of grounds, of the Prattsville 
Agricultural and Horticultural Association, 
and is always ready to assist in forwarding 
public improvements. While not a church 
member, he contributes toward the support of 
the various denominations, and is in close 
sympathy with the different moral and relig- 
ious societies of the village. 




OLONEL ALONZO FERGUSON, 
1^ of Coblcskill, N.Y. , secretary of the 
Schoharie and Otsego Mutual Fire 
Insurance Company, and a veteran of the Civil 
War, was born in the town of Nassau, Rensse- 
laer County, this State, on March 19, 1820, 
son of German and Pllizabeth (.SI iter) Fergu- 
son. His parents were both natives of Nas- 
sau. One of his great-grandfathers, a German 
of the name of Sornberger, was a pioneer set- 
tler of Dutchess County. His paternal grand- 
father was Jeremiah Ferguson, and his mater- 
nal grandfather, John SI iter, both of Nassau, 
and the latter a Revolutionary soldier and 
pensioner. 

In 1826, about three years after the death 
of his wife Elizabeth, which occurred when 
their son Alonzo was only three and a half 
years old, he came to Coblcskill. Here he 
spent the rest of his life, and died at the age 
of seventy-six. In religion he was a Meth- 
odist. 

Colonel Ferguson was only six years old 
when his father came to Cobleskill. Here, up 
to his fifteenth year, he received what little 



iS4 



lUOCJKArillCAI, 



KVIKW 



education the common schools of that day 
afforded in winter, and in summer lie was em- 
ployed on farm work. At the age of seventeen 
he was ajiprcnticed to learn wagon-making, and 
for the succeeding nine years he worked at that 
trade. ;\t twenty-si.\ he entered a village 
store at Carlisle as clerk, and there remained 
for a year. In the spring of 1847 he became 
a partner of the late Charles Courter at Coble- 
skill, continuing the connection until 1851, 
when he engaged in the hardware business at 
Cobleskill on his own account. This he car- 
ried on for foui' years, and at the end of that 
time sold out to the late Charles H. Shaver. 
In 1850 and 1851 he was Clerk of the town of 
Cobleskill. In 1855 he removed to the city 
of Buffalo, and in 1862 entered the government 
service in the commissary department of the 
army. 

He was ordered to duty in Kentucky, and 
followed the army to Pittsburg Landing. 
Having contracted a fever, he was obliged to 
reluin noilh about the first of June, but shortl}' 
after was commissioned Adjutant by Governor 
Morgan to organize the cjuota of the Twentieth 
Senatorial District of New York under the call 
of President Lincoln for three hundred thou- 
sand \-olunteers, and he immediately reported 
to Colonel Richard Franchot at Mohawk, 
Herkimer County, where camp was estab- 
lished. This was earl)- in July, 1862, and 
on the twenty thiid of the following month the 
One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment 
went to the trout with one thousand and ten 
men. A second regiment being needed to 
com[iletc the quota, at the earnest request ol 



the war committee, he was again assigned by 
the governor to the task, and on October 15, 
1862, the One Hundred and Fifty-second Reg- 
iment was mustered into service, thus complet- 
ing the enlistment of more than two thousand 
men within the space of three months. Gov- 
ernor Morgan commissioned him Lieutenant 
Colonel of the One Hundred anil Fifty-second 
Regiment, and on October 21 he left with his 
command for the front. In January of the fol- 
lowing year he was i>idnioted to the rank of 
Colonel. He was with his regiment at the 
siege of Suffolk, \'a., untler General Peck, in 
April and May, iSfi^, and from there was or- 
dered to the Peninsula, thence to Wa.shington, 
and thence, in Jul)-, on to New York to sup- 
press the draft j-iots. His was the fii-st volun- 
teer regiment to arrive in that city. Order 
being restored, he was directed by General 
Canby, who was in command at New York, to 
proceed to Schenectady and be present there 
during the enforcement of the draft. He was 
then ordered back to New York, where his 
con-m-iaiid remained on tletachcd diU)' until Oc- 
tobt-r, when he was ordered to join the second 
corps of the Army of the Potomac. About the 
first of December the Colonel was obliged to 
resign on account of impaired health, not being 
willing to renniiu in the service unless he 
could i)erfoini active duty. 

Returning North he engaged in business in 
the city of New York, and subseqently in the 
State of Florida. In 1876 he served as a 
member of the .State Senate of Florida, being- 
sent fi-oni tlie first disti-icl of that State. He 
was at the capital when the arguments on the 




A.XDKI'W J. XAXULKl'UKL. 



BIOGRArHICAL REVIEW 



1S7 



Tilden and Hayes returns were made, knew the 
officials who canvassed the returns, and learned 
from the lips of the secretary of State all that 
related to the question. Returning in 1S79 to 
his old home, he here engaged in the hardware 
business, but later sold out and started an in- 
surance business. In this line he has been 
very successful, having been agent for most of 
the standard companies. In October, 1S95, 
he organized the fire insurance company of 
which he is now secretary. During his recent 
residence here he has been chairman of the 
Republican county committee for four years, 
and for two years he was a member of the state 
committee. 

Colonel Ferguson was married in March, 
1847, to Mary Courter, of this town. She was 
burn in Schoharie, and died in 1859, at the 
age of thirty-two, leaving two children: 
Charles, who is now a ti'avelling agent in the 
West ; and Sarah, who died at the age of 
thirty-three. The latter was the wife of 
Frank M. Goodrich, and the mother of two 
children, one of whom is living. The Colonel 
was married in April, 1S65, to Libbie M. 
Pegg, a native of Springfield, Otsego County, 
and daughter of George A. Pegg, a well-known 
hotel-keeper of that town. Py this marriage 
there is one .son, Howard P., who is now in 
business with his father. He was for si.v 
years in New York as a hotel clerk. 

The Colonel is a member of Cobleskill 
Lodge, No. 394, F. & A. M., having joined 
in 1865. He takes an active interest in town 
affairs. Colonel and Mrs. I'erguson are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church, of which he has | 



been an Elder for a number of years, being 
also treasurer of the society. 




APTAIN ANDREW J. VANDER^ 
r POEL, dealer in ice, a highly re- 
spected citizen of New Baltimore, 
N. Y. , was born in this town on May 7, 1838, 
his parents being Andrew and Jane {Van 
Slyke) Vanderpoel. His grandfather, also 
named Andrew, was a native of Columbia 
County. He spent his life there engaged in 
farming, and died there at the age of fifty- 
eight. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Elizabeth Smith, was born in Connecticut. 
None of their seven children are living. Her 
death occurred at the age of seventy-eight. 
She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and had a brother who was an Elder in 
that church. 

Andrew Vanderpoel, the second, father of 
the subject of this sketch, came to New Balti- 
more when a young man, purchased a farm 
here, and subsequently engaged in farming 
until about the age of si.vty years when he 
retired and moved to New Baltimore vil- 
lage, and at the age of seventy-nine he died. 
He was a Deacon in the Dutch Reformed 
church and for many years an Elder. In pol- 
itics he was first a Whig and later a Republi- 
can. He was a man of sound judgment, and 
his advice and counsel were sought by many. 
His wife, Jane, was born in this place; and 
was a daughter of Tunis Van Slyke, a farmer 
and large land-owner. She was one of a fam- 
ily of eight children. Of the si.v born to her, 



1 88 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



four are living, namely: Tunis, who resides in 
New Baltimore; Andrew J. ; Peter, who is 
in Massachusetts ; and Mrs. Alida Mead of 
this town. The mother died at the age of 
ninety years. 

Captain Vanderpoel in his hr)yhood attended 
the district school, and at tlie age of twenty 
studied for a time in Claverick Institute. He 
began his working life on his father's farm, 
and subsequently went into liusiness, forming 
a partnership with a Mr. Smith under the firm 
name of Smith & \'anderpocl, and for six years 
carrx'ing on a general merchandise store. At 
the end of that time he disposed of his inter- 
est iri tiie business to Mr. Holmes. A little 
later he started a coal yard in New l?altimore, 
also entered the ice business, also ran boats to 
New "\'()rk. lie then bought back his interest 
in the store from Mr. Holmes, retaining it until 
1880, when he sold it to Mr. Nelson. During 
the ne.xt six years he was cajitain of the " City 
of Hudson," the day boat which ran fiom 
Catskill to Albany. While occupying this 
position lie removed his family to Catskill, 
where he continued to reside until 1S87, when 
he returned to tiiis town. After he left off 
running the "City of Hudson," he was en- 
gaged in the transpniiation of freight to New 
York, but ill 1897 his dock buildings burned, 
and he discontinued the freight trade. Since 
tlien he has carried on an ice business, housina; 
twenty-six thousand tons of ice a year and dis- 
bursing it in large quantities in New York at 
wholesale. In 1S90 the Captain bouglit his 
present beautiful estate, which is a fine farm 
devoted princiiiall)' to fiuit orchards. ll is 



known as the Dr. Cornell homesteatl, and over- 
looks the gliding Hudson. 

Captain Vander|)oel has been twice married, 
the first time, in i86g, to Elizabeth Randall, 
and the second time in 1882 to I'.lla Jennings. 
The first Mrs. X'anderpoel was a Nova Scotian 
by birth. She died at the age nf thirty-nine, 
having been the mother of five chilihen, namely : 
Weston K. and Frank, who are in California; 
Martha and Margaret who are in New Jersey, 
and Andrew, also in California. The second 
Mrs. \'anderpoel was born near Duriiam. Her 
father, Daniel D. Jennings, was a well-known 
hotel-keeper in liis native town of Cairo. He 
died when liis daughter Ella w-as a young girl. 
His second wife, Eleanor Souser, a descendant 
of the noted .Salisbury famil\- which came from 
England, was born in Jefferson in the town of 
Catskill. She bore him four children, of 
whom there are living: Peter, of New York; 
Irving, a Catskill lawyer and bank president; 
and Mrs. \'anderpoel. Ca])taiii and Mrs. 
Vanderpoel ha\e one chikl, I'etei' Ji^'iiiiings, 
now eleven years of age. They lost two little 
sons — John IJenham, at two years of age; and 
Worthington, who died an infant. 

Tile Captain is a Republican; l)ut he refuses 
to accept nomination for public office, though 
frequently asked to do so. He is a Mason, 
being formerl)- associated witii Ark Lodge of 
Coxsackie and at present a member of Social 
F'ricndship Lodge of New Baltimore. Of the 
latter he is a charter member, one of three, 
and since its organization has been treasurer of 
the lodge. Mrs. \'anderpoel is a member of 
tiie Dutch Relormed Church of Catskill. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



189 



W: 



[LLIAM HENRY DECKER, Su- 
pervisor of the town of Gilboa, 
Schoharie County, N.Y. , and by occupation a 
dairyman and fruit-grower, was born in Gilboa 
on November 12, 1S46. His parents were 
Jacob and Betsy Ann (Shew) Decker, and his 
paternal grandfather was Tunis Decker, whose 
immigrant progenitor was one of a colony of 
Dutch emigrants who settled in Deckertown, 
N.J., and Columbia County, New York. 

Tunis Decker was born in 1765 in Columbia 
County, and lived there for some time. He 
came eventually to Gilboa, and purchased a 
tract of three hundred acres, part of which es- 
tate is where his grandson William now re- 
sides. Although ostensibly a farmer, he was 
a man of varied talents, and could turn his 
hand to almost any kind of work. He came 
here in 1833, and died some twenty years 
later, in his eighty-ninth year. His remains 
were the first to be carried into the Shew Hol- 
low Methodist church for funeral services. 
No other place seemed so fitting as the church 
for which he had worked and sacrificed, and to 
whose interests he was so thoroughly devoted. 
His wife, whom he had married shortly after 
the Re\'olution, survived him some years, dy- 
ing at the age of eighty-eight. Of their fam- 
ily of twelve children three died in infancy. 
The nine that continued life's journey were : 
Cornelia, Jacob and Sophia (twins,) Polly, 
Catherine, Susan, Eliza, Cornelius, and 
George. Eliza Decker died on Long Island of 
yellow fever. Tall stature was a family char- 
acteristic. The three sons became farmers, 
and each upon settling in life for himself was 



given a hundred acres of land from the paternal 
estate. Cornelius died in New London, Wis. 
He had three sons, only one of whom is living. 
This one and William Henry Decker are the 
only living male descendants of Tunis Decker 
bearing his name. George had two sons, but 
both are deceased. 

Jacob Decker, who was born June 30, 181 1, 
at Conesville, Schoharie County, N. Y. , and 
died in Gilboa, N. Y. , on Christmas Day, 
1S79, was a carpenter, and followed his trade 
for twenty-two years, being considered one of 
the most skilled workmen in these parts. He 
lived with his parents until his marriage, and 
then settled on the lot his father gave him, 
living first in the log house on the premises 
which became the birthplace of the subject of 
this sketch and most of his brothers and sis- 
ters. Later Jacob Decker built a large house. 
He was a Republican from the formation of 
the party, and a leader in all local affairs. 
He was deeply interested in the progress of the 
church, and was one of those who helped build 
the Methodist church edifice at Shew Hollow. 
He was class leader for fourteen years. In- 
deed, this family has been and still is noted 
for its liberal support of all religious organ- 
izations both in a moral and a financial way. 
Jacob Decker's w'ife, Betsy Ann, was a grand- 
daughter, on her mother's side, of Captain 
Hagar, who won renown during the days of the 
Revolution by his valiant service in behalf of 
the colonists. His brother Joseph was shot 
during the war, and his father was carried a 
prisoner to Canada, and detained there until 
the end of the struggle. One of three pewter 



igo 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



plates, the histor)' nf which is connected with 
the Revolution, is still preserved in Mr. 
Decker's family. They were thrown into a well 
by the wife of Captain Hagar just before the 
house was burned by Brant's Indians and Tor- 
ies, and they were taken from the well at the 
close of the war. Mrs. l^ets)' Ann Decker 
died at eighty years of age, on March 12, 
1894. She was the mother of the following- 
named children: Marietta; S. Amelia; Martha 
A.; Francelia; Rozella; Almira, who died at 
the age of si.\ years; Helen, who died young; 
William II. ; and two elder sons, who died 
young. Marietta married David Simonson, 
and resides in Hobart, N. Y. Amelia married 
Dr. R. Hubbell, of Jeffenson, N.Y., and died 
in 1889. I'^rancelia is the wife of William R. 
Ladd, of Bangor, Me. Rozella is the second 
wife of Dr. R. Hubbell, of Jefferson, N. Y. 

William llciir)' Decker is a man of fine jihy- 
sique, and in his prime was known as the 
strongest and most active man in this section. 
He has been known to lift twelve hundred 
pounds dead weight. He early engaged in 
blacksmith ing, for which he seemed so well 
adapted by nature, and in wood working and 
repairing. His motto was, "Do it right and 
you won't have to do it over again"; and, as 
this sentiment found constant expression in all 
work thai he did, he had no difficulty in secur- 
ing the best trade in his line in this vicinity. 
But after twenty )'ears of mechanical labor he 
was attacked by rheumatism, and it became 
necessary for him to make a change in this 
business. He therefore confined himself to 
farming on his two hundred and thirty-eight 



acres, devoting his attention chiefly to dairying 
and fruit-growing. His dairy of si.xty milch 
cows is one of the largest in town, and is com- 
posed of e.xcellent stock. He has about six 
hundred apple-trees. He is one of the fi\e 
directors in the creamery company at South 
Gilboa, and previous to its incorporation was 
one of the committee that built the creamery 
and carried on the business. This creamery, 
which is one of the most expensive in this 
vicinity, cost, with buildings and ecpiipment, 
seven thousand dollars. 

Politically, Mr. Decker is a strong Repub- 
lican. He has attended man\' conventions, 
and every year since he became a voter has 
taken an active part in election and nomina- 
tion of officials. W'ith the exception of one 
year, when he was sick, he has always been 
present at town elections. He has held the 
offices of Collector, Road Commissioner, Poor- 
master, Assessor, Constable, and, indeed, 
every office in the town except those of Town 
Clerk and Justice of the Peace. If he lives 
till the end of his present term he will have 
been Supervisor of his town five \ears. Every- 
nomination has come to him unsolicited. 
While he was serving as Road Conunissioner 
thirty bridges were repaired in one season, but 
expenses were kept at a minimum. In 1896 
he was elected Supervisor for tw^o years; in 
189S he was re-elected, foi- one year, as the 
unanimous choice of i)oth irarties; and in the 
early part of the present year, 1899, he was re- 
elected for two years. His opponent at his 
first election was Stephen Wildsey, who had 
been on the board twice before. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



191 



-Mr. Decker has been twice married, his 
wives being sisters, daughters of Hiram 
Brown, of Dutch descent. Mr. Ijmwn is liv- 
ing, but his wife died in April, 1S96. They 
were the parents of two sons and three daugh- 
ters, namely: Eliza; Reuben; Jacob, who re- 
sides in Gilboa; Addie; and Angle. Addle 
l^rown, Co whom Mr. Decker was married first, 
died in her thirty-fourth year, on November 
21, 1889. She was the mother of five chil- 
dren, and is survived by three; namely, Lizzie 
E., Zanah, and Arthur B. Willie J. died at 
two years of age, on November 2, 1880; and 
Inza died at four years of age, on October 22, 
1884. Mr. Decker's present wife was before 
marriage Angle Brown. Mr. Decker is a 
member of the Shew Hollow Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. He has always been a temper- 
ate man in every way, using neither tobacco 
nor into.xicants of any kind. His genial tem- 
per and hearty good humor make him a gen- 
eral favorite, and his jovial laugh is a pleasant 
sound to hear. 




ILLIAM D. SHAEER, M.D., a 
rising young physician of Oak Hill, 
town of Durham, N.Y. , was born in Coble- 
skill, Schoharie County, March 16, 1870, son 
of Daniel G. and Mary J. (Van Volkenberg) 
Shafer. His paternal grandfather, Daniel 
Shafer, was a lifelong resident of C(jbleskill, 
where he cultivated a farm during his active 
period, and died at the age of eighty years. 

Daniel G. Shafer, Dr. Shafer's father, ac- 
quired a good education in the common schools 



and at Charlotte Academy. Eor many years 
he was associated with his brother-in-law. He 
finally purchased a jMece of agricultural prop- 
erty of one hundred and thirty acres, situated 
near Mineral Springs, upon which he spent his 
last years, and where his widow, Mrs. Mary J. 
Shafer, still resides. In politics he was a 
Democrat. Mrs. Shafer's father, Hiram Van 
Volkenberg, was a farmer of Schoharie County. 
She is the mother of two children: William 
D., the subject of this sketch; and Mary, wife 
of Jesse Shafer of Mineral Springs. 

After attending the common schools and the 
high school of Cobleskill, William D. Shafer 
began the study of medicine with Dr. Allen of 
that town, and latei attended the New York 
Eclectic College, from which he was graduated 
in 1892. He began the practice of his profes- 
sion in New York City, and went from there 
to Livingstonville. Since July, 1896, he has 
been the only physician at Oak Hill, and his 
practice, which has already assumed large 
proportions, extends into Schoharie and Al- 
bany Counties, necessitating long tedious rides 
in all kinds of weather. 

In 1892 Dr. Shafer was united in marriage 
with Jessie Dillenbeck, daughter of Jonas Dil- 
lenbeck, a druggist of Cobleskill. They have 
one son, Rudolph. 

Politically, Dr. Shafer acts with the Demo- 
cratic party. He served as Coroner in .Scho- 
harie County, resigning that office when he re- 
moved from Livingstonville. He is treasurer 
of the Lyman Tremaine Lodge, No. 265, 
I. O. O. E., Oak Hill, and a member of tlrc 
Middleburg Encampment. He is medical ex- 



192 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



amiiiLT tor the New \'i)rk Life and Prudential 
Insurance Companies; also for the Masonic 
Life Association of Western New York, and 
formerly belonged to the New York Eclectic 
Society. He attends the Episcopal church, of 
which Mrs. Siiafer is a member. 




il<:V. IIL'C.11 ()'NP:IL, pastor of St. 
Mary's Churcli, Hunter, N.Y., and of 
St. P'rancis de Sales Chnrch, Plater- 
kill, was born in Dim<4arvan, Count)- Water- 
ford, Ireland, May 18, 1838, son of Patrick 
and P:ilen (McSweeney) O'Neil. 

The first of the family to settle in Waterford 
was his great-grandfather, Hugh O'Neil, who 
went there from Shaw's Castle, County Ty- 
rone, lid ward O'Neil, his grandfather, was 
born in Kilkenny, and was a farmer. Patrick 
O'Neil, his father, who was born in Water- 
ford and was a farmer in early life, later 
engaged in the bakery business in Dungar- 
van. He was also a spirits merchant, and 
before the advent of railroads he ran a line 
of carriages known as post coaches. He was 
a great admirer of Daniel O'Connell, and 
while taking an active part in electing a mem- 
ber of parliament he contracted an illness 
which caused his death at the age of fift)-two 
years. 

Patrick O'Neil was a highly respected citi- 
zen and an able supporter of the church. His 
wife, Ellen, was born in Tipperary in 1796, 
daughter of Tiiomas IMcSweeney. During the 
Rebellion of 1798 her parents took refuge in 
a town in the county of Waterford. She was 



the mother of eight children, of wliom the sub- 
ject of this sketch and his sister Margaret are 
the only survivors. Margaret, now Mrs. 
O'Callahan, resides with her brother in Hun- 
ter She has a daughter who is the Assistant 
Reverend Mother in the convent at West Troy. 
One of Father O' Neil's brothers, Edward, was 
educated in St. Jojm's College, Waterford, 
from which he was graduated in 1852. He 
was ordained co the priesthood, and sent to 
Manchester, England, where he became a 
Canon, and served in that capacity until his 
deatli, which occurred in 1 S92, at the age of 
sixty-seven. 

Hugh O'Neil began his education in a 
classical school, i:)repared for college under 
private tutor.s, and in 1858 went to Allhallows 
College, where he was graduated in i860. 
His theological stutlies were [jursued at Water- 
ford anil at St. Mary's College, Oscott, Eng- 
land, where he was a fellow-student with the 
late King Alphonso of Spain and witli the 
father of the late General Garcia, the Culjan 
leader. He was ordained a priest of the 
Roman Catholic Church, P'ebruary g, 1867, 
and iiis first appuinlment was to St. lianiabas 
Catheilral, Nottingham, ICngland, where he re- 
mained nine months. His ne.xt charge was at 
the village of Ilkeston, now a city, where his 
duties required him to cover a circuit of forty- 
five miles; anil during his labors there, whicji 
extended through a period of eleven years, he 
erected a church and a school building and de- 
velo]ied the parish into a highly prosperous 
condition. The routine work which he accom- 
plished unaided is now performed by eight 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



193 



priests. At his own request he wns trans- 
ferred to the village of Hathersage, Peak of 
Derbyshire, famous as the home of Robin Hood, 
and with the assistance of the Duke of Norfolk 
he repaired and opened an ancient church built 
previous to the Reformation. 

At the expiration of four and one-half years 
he came to the United States on a leave of ab- 
sence, arriving in New York in 1882, and, 
subsequently deciding to remain this country, 
he severed his connection with his English 
parish and accepted an assignment to a mission 
church in Philadelphia. At the request of the 
bishop of Indianapolis he went to .St. Patrick's 
Church in that city. After that he was again 
stationed in Philadelphia for a short time, and 
then became attached to the diocese of Albany, 
and was assigned to St. Mary's Church in 
Troy. In 1887 he came to Hunter as pastor 
of St. Mary's Church. 

The arduous duties of a widel}' distributed 
district, which included villages and settle- 
ments within a radius of fifty miles, were zeal- 
ously and energetically performed by him for 
five years, or until his circuit was divided, 
since which time the concentration of his 
labors has enabled him to accomplish results 
far more visible in their effects. Beside effect- 
ing the enlargement and improvement of St. 
Mary's Church, he erected St. Francis de 
Sales Church in Platerkill in 1891. At both 
of these churches he officiates the year round, 
celebrating two masses each Sunday during the 
summer season, besides holding week-day ser- 
vices whenever occasion demands. He for- 
merly conducted service regularly at the hotel 



Kaaterskill during the season, but these he 
was obliged to relinquish on account of his in- 
creasing labors elsewhere. He has earnestly 
endeavored to promote the spiritual welfare of 
his widely-scattered flock, and the zeal he dis- 
plays in conducting the affairs of his pastorate 
has gained for him the good will of the entire 
community. He organized the Sacred Heart 
and Rosary societies, and he takes a lively in- 
terest in the work of the town improvement so- 
ciety, of which he is a member. At the ear- 
nest request of the people of Lexington he 
aided in securing the erection of a church in 
that village; and he has also repaired St. 
Henry's Church, located between Ashlantl and 
Prattsville. 

Father O'Neil began to interest himself 
in political affairs shortly after his arrival in 
this country, and in 1884 he headed a commit- 
tee who, at the P^ifth Avenue Hotel, New 
York City, presented the late Hon. James G. 
l^laine with a gold-headed cane. He is a nat- 
uralized citizen of the United States, and sup- 
ports the Democratic party. 



^OHN G. EMPIE, who has been actively 
identified with the agricultural interests 
of the town of Seward, Schoharie 
County, for more than thirty years, is the 
owner of a well-improved farm lying about one 
mile from the village of Hyndsville. He was 
born in Sharon, N.Y. , January 5, 1836, a son 
of Peter Empie, Jr. He is of French and 
German ancestry, and the descendant of one of 
the earliest settlers of Schoharie County — his 



194 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



great-grandfather, John lunpie, having rc- 
iiiDvcd in carl)' manhood tVoni Stone Arabia, 
Montgomery County, to the town of Sliaron. 
A hard-working pioneer, Jcjhn Empie cleared 
a farm from the wilderness, and there passed 
the remainder of his life. 

I'eter ICnipie, Sr. , graiulfalher of John G., 
sjient his sevent\'-seven years of life on the old 
homestead in Sharon, Schoharie Coiuit\-, work- 
ing as a farmer through boyhood, early man- 
hood, and old age. He cleared off wood, cul- 
tivated the soil, and in course of time erected 
substantial frame buildings in place of the 
original log house and barn. His wife, Katie 
Lehman, was born in Sharon. She was a 
daughter of John Lehman, whose father was 
one of the original settlers of that place. Of 
their eight children, none survive. 

I'eter Knipie, Jr., son of I'eter, Sr. , was 
born and brought up on llie old farm in 
Sharon, and received his education in the pio- 
neer schools of his day and generation. Vo\- 
lovving in the footste[5S of his ancestors, he 
chose farming as his life occupation, and on 
reaching manhood pinchascd land near the 
parental estate, and was there successfully en- 
gaged in his independent calling until his de- 
cease, at the venerable age of eighty-three 
years. He was a Democrat in jiolitics, greatly 
interested in public affairs, and served his fel- 
low-townsmen as Assessor for a number of 
years. Both lu' and his wife were members of 
the Reformed church. He married Maria 
Kmpie, who was born in .Sharon, a daughter of 
a later John Empie than the iiioneer. Peter 
and Maria Empie had seven children; namely, 



Norman D., Jane E., John G. , Peter H., 
Anna S., Harvey L. , and Hewitt C. 

John G. Empie acipiired a practical educa- 
tion in the common schools of Sharon and at 
the Carlisle Seminary. He subsequently 
taught school several terms, both in Sharon 
and Seward, but in 1867 gave up his position 
at the teacher's desk to take possession of his 
present fine estate of one hundred acres, which 
was formerly known as the Ealk farm. P'rom 
year to year he has made marked improvements 
on the place, having erected within the last 
cpiarter of a century all the buildings that are 
now on it and cleared off much of the wood. 
He has a large part of the land under cultiva- 
tion. He carries on general farming in all its 
branches, and in past times he raised vast 
cpiantities of hops, which pro\ed a valuable 
crop. 

In politics Mr. lunpie affiliates with the 
Democratic party. He has served acceptably 
in various local offices, including those of Su- 
pervisor, Commissioner of Highways, and 
trustee of his school district. He has also 
been secretary and trustee of the People's 
Cemetery Association of .Sharon ever since its 
organization in i S67. 

On June 30, 1858, Mr. pjiipie married Miss 
Nancy C. Borst, who was also born in Sharon, 
as was her father, Peter G. Borst, a lifelong 
farmer of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Empie 
have two children— the Rev. Alfied R. and 
Edward J. The Rev. Alfred R. I{mpie was 
graduated from Hartwick .Seminary, and is now 
preaching in Maryhuul, Otsego County, N. Y. 
He married Miss Anna Skinner, and they have 




ALUNZO W'AKKAIAN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



197 



one child, Lillian. Edward J. Knipic married 
Miss Anna Nellis, and is the father of two 
children — Everett and Nancy Ella. Mr. and 
Mrs. John G. iMiipie are members f)f the Lu- 
theran church, in which he has been Deacon, 
Elder, and secretary. 



—♦-♦••-•— 



tLONZO WAKEMAN, for many years 
one of the leading farmers of Lawyers- 
<■ — ' ville, Schoharie County, was born 
October 2^,, 1810, in this town, and here spent 
his entire life of nearly seventy-eight years, 
his death occurring on August 31, 1888. He 
was of patriotic Revolutionary stock, his j3a- 
ternal grandfather, Gershom Wakeman, a na- 
tive of Fairfield, Conn., having served as an 
officer in the war for American independence. 

Gershom Wakeman was a farmer by occupa- 
tion. He was among the very first to enlist in 
the Colonial forces, and was killed in one of 
the early battles of the war. His wife, Eliza- 
beth Downs, was born in l''airfield County, 
Connecticut, daughter of David Downs and the 
descendant of one of the earliest settled families 
of that county. She died not very long after 
her husband's death, leaving seven children; 
namely, Abigail, Abel, Gershom, Dolly, 
Amelia, Isaac, and Seth B. , the latter of 
whom was the father of Alonzo Wakeman. 

Seth B. Wakeman was brought up on a 
farm. In early manhood he learned the car- 
penter's trade, which he subsequently followed 
many years in Lawyersville, where he was one 
of the first settlers. He erected the house now 
occupied by his son Alonzo's widow, the resi- 



dence of Stanton Courter, of Cobleskill, and 
several business houses of this locality. He 
bought a farm of two hundred acres near the 
village and also other land in town; and f(jr 
some years prior to his death, at the age of 
eighty -two years, was successfully engaged in 
general farming. He likewise carried on an 
extensive business as a manufacturer of lum- 
ber, being the owner of a saw-mill. His first 
wife, Clara Nichols, a native of Fairfield 
County, Connecticut, died in early womanhood, 
leaving him five children, namely: Horace; 
Alonzo, the special subject of tliis sketch ; 
Horatio; Maria; and Charles. In religion, 
both parents were of the Universal ist faith. 
After the death of his fir.st wife Seth B. 
Wakeman married Sarah Wheeler, also of 
Fairfield County, Connecticut. 

Alonzo Wakeman in 1878 bought the \-alu- 
able farm of two hundred acres, on which his 
daughter Emma now resides, and until his 
death, as above mentioned, was recognized in 
the community as one of its foremost agricult- 
urists. Strictly honest and upright, he was 
influential in the neighborhood, and, as a 
Notary Public, for many years transacted a 
good deal of business. In [jolitics, he was an 
ai'ilent supporter of the pi'inciples of the Re- 
publican party, but persistently refused to ac- 
cept all offices, even that of president of the 
National Bank, of which he was one of the 
founders and for many years a director. 

Mr. Alonzo Wakeman's first wife was Miss 
Catharine Stall, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
Peter Stall, of .Sharon, Schoharie County, 
N. Y. ; she lived ten months after their mar- 



198 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



riage, her death occurring in 1834 at the 
age of nineteen years and ele\'en months. 
In June, E.S38, Mr. Wakenian married Mary 
O'Dcll, who was Ijorn Sejjtember 26, 181 5, in 
Redding, Conn., daughter of Ur. Joseph 
O'Dell. Mrs. Wakcman is of French ances- 
try, her great-grandfather O'Dcll, one of the 
first settlers of Norwalk, Conn., having emi- 
grated to that town from h'rance in Colonial 
days. Nathan O'Dell, her grandfather, was a 
prosperous farmer and a lifelong resident of 
Norwalk, Conn. His wife, Mary Hurritt, 
bore him fourteen children, all of whcjm grew 
to maturity and married. Josejih O'Dell, 
ha\ing received his early education in the 
common schools, pursued the study of medi- 
cine, at first with one of the local physicians. 
Dr. Jesse Shepard, and afterward in New 
York City. On graduating, he located first as 
a practitioner in Dover, Conn., whence he re- 
moved to Redding, Conn., where he continued 
actively engaged in the practice of his profes- 
sion. At the age of thirty-one years he died 
in Charleston, S. C, while there for the bene- 
fit of his health. His wife, Lucy Wakenian, 
was burn in l-'airfield. Conn., a daughter of 
Gershom Wakenian, second, who was an uncle 
of Alonzo W'akeman. Gershom Wakenian, 
second, married Sibbell Bradley, of Fairfield, 
Conn., and Lucy was their only daughter. 
They were \'ery prominent members of the 
Congregational church. 

Mr. Alonzo Wakenian is survi\ed by his 
wife and four children ; namely, Emma, C'lara 
A., ICUa, and Sarah \\\ I'.mnia J. married 
Solomon Larkin, a farmer, who died in 1897, 



leaving her with one child, Charles W. 
Larkin; Clara A. is the wife of Ronieyn 
l^rown, a hardware merchant of Oneonta, and 
the mother of three children — Wakeman, 
Floyd, and an infant (deceased) ; Ella is the 
wife of George Story, a carpenter; and Sarah 
W. is the wife of Daniel J. Gannon, who is 
her third husband. Mrs. Wakeman ami all 
her family e.\cept one are valued members of 
the Lutheran church. 



(^>r NDREW J. KLIXK, proprietor of a 
^4 well-stocked general store in I'atter- 
>w.' sonville, Schenectady County, N. Y., 
was born in this place, November i, 1850, son 
of Joseph and Janet (Staley) Kline. His 
father was born in Aiken, Montgomery 
County, in 1818, and his mother was born in 
Princetown, this county, in 1S23. Grand- 
father Kline was an early settler in Montgom- 
ery County, and there carried on general farm- 
ing for the rest of his active period. 

Joseph Kline was reared on his father's 
farm. At the age of eighteen he came to Pat- 
tersonville, then called Hoffman's Ferry, and 
for a number of years he kejit a grocery store. 
Removing to Swartztown, N.\'. , he carried on 
the same business in connection with a hotel, 
and also cultivated a farm. His activity con- 
tinued until a few \ears prior to his death, 
which occurred at the age of sevent}'-five 
years. His wife died at seventy. She was 
the mother of si.\ children, namely: Geroe G., 
who died at the age of forty-si.x years; Andrew 
J., the subject of this sketch; Oliver S. ; Jen- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



199 



nie RL, who is now Mrs. Herrick ; Harriet 
A. ; and E]la, wlio is now Mrs. Gregg. Mrs. 
Janet Kline was a member of the Reformed 
chureb. 

Andrew J. Kline was reared and educated in 
Swartztown. When a young man he began 
business as a dealer in farm produce along the 
Erie Canal, and was thus engaged for twelve 
years. Since 18S6 he has been located at his 
present place of business in Pattersonville. 
His store, which is one of the leading sources 
of supply in this section, is well stocked with 
agricultural implements, fertilizers, and gen- 
eral merchandise. 

In 1877 Mr. Kline was united in marriage 
with Henrietta Sterling, of Florida, N. Y., 
daughter of VVinslow Sterling. Mrs. Kline is 
the mother of three children; namely, Jessie 
R., Bertha H., and I3oyd J, 

Politically, Mr. Kline is a Democrat. 
Able, energetic, and conscientious, he has se- 
cured a firm foothold in business through his 
own exertions, and he fully merits the high 
esteem accorded him by his fellow-townsmen. 



^jTrOHN ROE, senior partner in the firm of 
J. & E. Roe, general merchants of 
Greenville, N.Y. , was born in Wiscon- 
sin on October 16, 1S49, son of William P. 
and Marietta (Newman) Roe. His paternal 
grandfather, William Roe, was a farmer by 
occupation. He liked to go from place to 
place, and lived successively in Athens, 
Greenville, and Cairo, owning farms at differ- 
ent times in each of these places in Greene 



County. He died at Cairo at the age of 
eighty-four. His wife Jane, who was before 
her marriage a Barker, was born in Greenville, 
and belonged to one of the old pioneer families. 

William P. Roe, son of William and Jane, 
was born in Athens, N.Y. , and reared to farm 
life. He lived for a time in Wisconsin, 
where he was interested in speculating and in 
farming, and held the office of Town Supervi- 
sor. Later he returned to New York State, 
settled in Greenville, and died here at the age 
of seventy-eight. He was County Superinten- 
dent of the Poor for three years. In politics 
he was a Democrat. His wife, Marietta, was 
a native of this place, and died here at the age 
of fifty-two. She was the daughter of Alva 
Newman, and one of a family of six children. 
Her father was a Greenville farmer, but he re- 
moved from Greenville to VVisconsin, and died 
there at the age of seventy. Mrs. Marietta N. 
Roe was the mother of six children. Of these 
five are living, namely: John, the subject of 
this sketch; Jasper, a farmer; Annis, wiio 
married Charles Roe; Ella, who married 
Charles Coonley ; and Edgar, who is a member 
of the firm of Roe Brothers. Both parents 
were Baptists. 

John Roe came with his father and mother 
to this town wlicn eight years old, and worked 
with his father until twenty-six years of age. 
In the winters of 1871, 1872, and 1873 he 
taught school in Greenville, and one winter he 
attended the Poughkeepsic lousiness College. 
Then, at the age of twenty-six, he formed a 
partnership with M. P. Blenis, which con- 
tinued for twelve 3ears, or until the time of 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mr. ]ilcnis's death. For the first year they 
operated a general store located opposite Mr. 
Roe's present stand, mov in<;' across the street 
at the end of that time. V\)r.n tlie death of 
Mr. menis, Mr. lulgar Roe bought out his in- 
terests, antl the firm assumed its present name. 
There is only one store in town larger than 
this. A full liiie of general merchandise is 
carried, including dry goods, groceries, boots 
and shoes, crocker}' and glass ware, carpets 
and oil-cli)ths, hats and caps. One clerk is 
employeil. Mr. l\uc has now been in business 
over twenty-three years, and is one of the old- 
est merchants here. He is known through all 
the country side, and cnjn\-s the esteem of 
every one. 

In 1878 Mr. Roe married Arvillia Deyo, a 
native of Durham, and daughter of Milo Deyo, 
now the popular blacksmith of (Jreenville. 
Of this union four children have been born, by 
name Milo H. , b'ord, Mary, and Jnhn. 

In politics Mr. Rue is a Democrat. He has 
given valuable service to the town in numerous 
juiblic positions. In 1890, and the four suc- 
ceeding years, he was Supervisor, and in 1894 
and 1895 he was chairman of the board. lie 
has been a member of the jinard of Education 
ever sini'e it was organized. While chairman 
of their boaixl in his last teini the .Supervisors 
presented him with a vcr)' fine easy chair, this 
being an expression of their appreciation of his 
services while a member of the body. In 
1897 he was elected Superintendent of the 
Poor, to serve until I goo. Mr. Roe makes a 
most efficient manager .for the almshouse. 
Under his care the ]dace is kept in the best of 



repair, and everything about it is neat and or- 
derly, while the health and comfort of the 
seventy inmates is carefully looked after. 

Mr. Roe is a jiromincnt Mason, being con- 
nected with James M. Austin Lodge, V. & 
A. M., and Greenville Royal Arch Chapter, 
No. 283. He has held all the offices in the 
lodge, having been warden, deacon, master 
for two )'ears, and secretary si.x years. His 
membership in the lodge dates back twenty- 
five years. He is a charter member of the 
chapter, and has always been its treasurer. 
He is frecpiently sent by his fellow-townsmen 
as delegate to county conventions, and is a 
member of the Town and Countv Committee. 
No worth)' object fails to receive his warm and 
active support, and be is often the originator 
of plans, the carrying out cjf which proves to 
be a benefit to the town and the community. 




RANK L. CASPKR, manufacturer of 
s extension tables and the patentee of 
table sup])orts for drop-leaf tables, in the 
town of Cf)l)leskill, Schoharie County, has a 
large and finely ecpiipped plant at Howe's 
Ca\'c, not far from the railway station of that 
village. He was born October 10, 1857, in 
the town of Cobleskill, and is the only sur- 
viving son of George Casper, a well-known 
business man of this section of the county. 
He is of German and Scotch descent, and the 
representative of a ]Moneer family of Scho- 
harie County, his paternal grandfather, whose 
name was Peter, having been an early settler 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



of this town. Peter Casper was a farmer and 
the owner of a good homestead, which he 
managed successfully until his death, at the 
age of threescore years, lie and his wife, 
whose maiden name was Margaret Hcrron, 
were among the leading members of the Re- 
formed church. They reared a large family 
of children. 

George Casper left the home farm on be- 
coming of age, engaged in business for him- 
self as a miller, purchasing a clover-mill and 
a saw-mill, and afterward a planing-mill and 
a cider-mill, all of which, with the exception 
of the first named, he is still operating with 
success. With true German thrift he saved 
each year a portion of his earnings, and soon 
erected the house in which he is now living. 
He has also accumulated some other property. 
A strong Democrat in politics, he takes an 
intelligent interest in local matters, and has 
served his fellow-townsmen in various ways. 
He has held different offices in the I^eformed 
cluirch, of which he antl his wife are active 
members, and for a number of years has been 
Elder of the church. He married Emeline 
Berner, who was born in Barnerville, this 
county, a daughter of John J. Berner. Of 
their five children three are now living, as 
follows: Ella, wife of Sylvester Mann, of 
Howes Cave; Alice, wife of Harvey Boorn ; 
and P'rank L. John P. Casper, who was pre- 
paring for the ministry at Rutgers College, 
died at the age of twenty-three years, and a 
daughter, Ida, wife of Ira Rickard, died on 
March 13, 1899. 

I'^rank L. Casper in his boyhood and youth 



acquired a practical common-school education, 
and until attaining his majority assisted his 
father in the care of his different mills. De- 
sirous, then, of turning his natural mechani- 
cal ability to some good account, he began 
the manufacture of furniture on a small scale, 
and succeeded so well that in the course of a 
few years he was forced to build an addition 
to the shop in which he had started his opera- 
tions. He subsequently leased the main 
building of the old Braman woollen factory, 
and, erecting near by a drying kiln, a finish- 
ing-room, and a wareroom, has here since 
1882 devoted his entire time to the making of 
extension tables. His plant is furnished with 
the latest improved and approved machinery, 
much of which he designed and made in his 
own factory, this being, with a single excep- 
tion, the only one of the kind between Bingham- 
ton and Albany. Pie employs a large force of 
men all the time in order to meet the demands 
of his customers in the six New PLnglantl 
States, New York, and Pennsylvania, his 
tables being sold on their merits His trade, 
already large, is constantly increasing, orders 
being daily received from firms in different 
parts of the Union. His factory and resi- 
dence are both warmed by steam heat and 
lighted throughout by electricity. 

Mr. Casper is a steadfast Prohibitionist in 
politics, and labors hard to advance the tem- 
perance cause. He is an active member of 
the Reformed church, in which he has served 
as Elder and treasurer, and has also held 
other offices. He has been connected with 
the Sun'lay-school for many years, much of 



BIOGRArillCAL REVIEW 



the time being its siipcrintciulent or the 
teacher of the Hible class. 

On March 5, 1879, Mr. Casper married 
Miss Belle Becker, daughter of Francis 
Becker, a prominent manufacturer of Scho- 
harie County, owning and operating mills at 
Central Bridge, Galupville, and Berne. Mr. 
and Mrs. Casper have two children— Le Roy 
and Lc (iiand, the eldest a ini|5il in the Coble- 
skill High School, class of 1899. The 
younger son will enter Cobleskill High 
School the cominc fall. 




I. LI AM H. STKWART, proprietor 
'-'^V of the Stewart house in Athens, 
N. \'., and a representative citizen of this 
place, was born in Jacksonville, now Earlton, 
ill the town of Coxsackie, Greene Count)', on 
December <S, i S49, son of William C. anil 
Margaret (Hardick) Stewart. William C. 
Stewart, who was bmn in Coxsackie, was a 
lawyer by profession, and practised in his na- 
tive town for over a quarter of a century. He 
was a leading man there, and for a number of 
years was justice. In his later life he made 
his home with his son William. His death 
occurred in i8cS4, at the age of sixty-eight. 
He was a Republican in politics. His wife 
was born in the town of Athens, and died in 
Earlton at the age of sixty-three. -She was 
the daughter of Jacob Hardick, who carried on 
farming on wliat was known as the Hardick 
farm. .She boie her husband six children, 
only two of whom are living; namely, William 
H. and his sister, Lucy J. The latter, who 



now resides in McHenr)', 111., is the wife of 
Isaac Wentworth, formerly of Athens, Greene 
Count)-, X.Y. 

William II. Stewart's early years were spent 
in Jacksonville in the town of Coxsackie, and 
he attended the public schools there until he 
was fifteen years of age. He then went to 
work as errand boy in the store of Daniel 
Whiting, who dealt in general merchandise, 
and also carried on a brick manufacti)ry and 
a wood yard. YoLMig Stewart rose from the 
bumble position of errand boy to that of clerk, 
and in this capacity worked for Mr. Whiting 
some ten or twelve years. Subsequentl)' to that 
he was clerk for a year in the Wormer House, 
now the Arlington House, of Athens, and at 
the end of that time, in 1S75, he purchased his 
present property. The small house then stand- 
ing on the lot was torn down, and the finely 
ajipointed -Stewart house of to-day erected in 
its place. The building is three stories high, 
and is fittetl with all miulern improvements, 
such as steam-heating apparatus, electricity for 
call bells and for lighting, hot and cold water 
and sanitary bath tubs. Besides the main 
house, Mr. Stewart owns the three adjoining 
houses and the dock where the ferry boat from 
Hudson lands. He has accommodations for 
about fifty guests, and as a landlord is deserv- 
edly popular. He has always taken an active 
part in [)olitics, and has been trustee of the 
\illage a number of years and also school 
trustee. 

Mr. -Stewart was married in 1877 to Ida 
Hollenbcck, who was born at (iuilderland 
Centre, in Albany Count)-, ilaughter of Garret 




GEORGE W. ANDERSON. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



2°S 



and Harriet (Van Valkenberg) Hollenbeck. 
Her father, who was a farmer, died when only 
forty years of age. Her mother, who was born 
in Albany, is still living, being now sixty- 
nine years of age. Of Mrs. Hollenbeck's 
three children, Mrs. Stewart is the only one 
living. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have one child, 
Hattie W. , who lives with them. They lost 
a son, Wilfred D., at the age of ten years. 

Mr. Stewart is a member of Custer Lodge of 
Odd Fellows, No. 508, and of the Knights of 
I'ythias, No. 129, of Athens. He has served 
several years as a member of Mackawack Hand 
Engine Company, but is now exempt from 
duty with that company, though he is an active 
member of the Hook and Ladder Company, 
which is said to be one of the finest in the 
State. He is also a member of the Horse 
Thief Detective Association, and one of its 
riders. He is the oldest hotel man in this 
town, and with one exception the oldest in the 
county. His wife and daughter attend the Re- 
formed church. In connection with his hotel 
Mr. Stewart carries on a livery, which is one 
of the best in the town. 



(W^o 



KORGE W. ANDERSON, the Icad- 
\mJ__ ing business man of Hunter, Greene 
County, N.Y., dealer in wood and coal and 
building supplies, and proprietor of the Cen- 
tral House, was born in New Sharon, Mon- 
mouth County, N.J., May 12, 1850, his 
[tarents being Jacob and Matilda (Brown) An- 
derson. His grandfather Anderson resided in 
I'errineville, N.J., in which town Jacob was 



born in 1814. His grandmother, whose 
maiden name was Mary Baldwin, was the 
daughter of Thomas Baldwin. Her father 
lived to the advanced age of ninety-three. 
She died at the age of fifty, having been the 
mother of five children. 

Jacob Anderson was a carpenter and builder 
by trade, and for thirty-five years carried on 
business in Hightstown, Mercer County, N.J., 
where he was a prominent citizen. The last 
years of his life were spent on a farm. In 
politics he was a Republican. He was an ac- 
tive member of an Odd Fellows organization. 
His death occurred in 1890, at the age of 
seventy-six. His wife, Matilda, who was born 
in Hightstown in 1824, and died in 1896, was 
the daughter of Captain George W. Brown, 
who commanded a company of militia stationed 
at Sandy Hook in the War of 18 12. Both 
Jacob Anderson and his wife were members of 
the Methodist church. Of their family of five 
sons and two daughters, only one, a son Jacob, 
is deceased. The living are: Abijab A., 
William W. , George W. , Carrie M., Thomas 
B., and Lilly B. Carrie married John W. 
Brown, and Lilly is the w^fe of Bills Flock. 

George W. Anderson lived with his parents 
and attended the common schools until he was 
about sixteen years old, when he began life for 
himself. At first he worked on a farm, and 
then he learned the carpenter's trade. His 
brothers, it may be mentioned, are also en- 
gaged as carpenters and builders. He worked 
at his trade in Hightstown, Freehold, New- 
Brunswick, and Newark, N.J., and at College 
Point, Lone: Island. Com in;/ to 1 1 miter in 



206 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



1876, Mr. Andcrsiiii worked for four years as a 
wheelwright, but at the end of that time en- 
gaged in the IniiUliug business. His success 
has lieen remari<able. He has seen the town 
double in size since he came here, and has him- 
self put up the more important of the new 
buildings. He built the Methodist church and 
the Kaatsberg Hotel, remodelled the Hunter 
House, built the church and the chair factor)- 
at Kdgcwood, and many houses in Hunter, 
Edgewood, and Tannersville. During busy 
seasons he employed thirty hands, carrying 
on the largest contracting business anywhere 
in this section. During a number of years 
he has sujiplied large quantities of lumber to 
other builders, and for some time he was the 
onl\- linuber dealer in five towns of this sec- 
tion. He is consequently widely known. 
Ml'. Anderson's house, which is one of the tin- 
est in the village, was built by him, as was 
also the building in which his office is now 
located, and which was from iHSo to 1887 used 
as a sash and iiliiul shop. Since 1884 Mr. 
Anderson has done little oi- no building, Init 
has gi\'en his time and attention to the man- 
agement of his large lundier \ard and carriage 
repository. In connection with this he does 
a large business in coal, wood, and grain, and 
carries a line of paints, oils, and hardware sup- 
])lies, and all kinds of building material used 
by both carpenters and masons. He is the 
only coal dealer in Hunter, Windham, Ash- 
land, or Jewett. 

Mr. Anderson was married in 1S72 to Julia 
1".. Lake, daughter of Hiram and Iialhsheba 
(Lounsben\) Lake. .She was born in l-'ree- 



hold, N. \'. Her father, who was a farmer, 
died at the age of si.xty, and her mother died 
at the age of fift\-three. Of their two chil- 
dien, Hiiam and Julia E., Mrs. Anderson is 
the only one living. Mr. Lake was twice 
marrictl. I!)' his fii'st wife, formerly Julia 
Rockwell, of East Durham, N.V. , he had 
two sons — James M. and Charles E., the 
latter now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. .'Vnclerson 
ha\'e two daughters, namely : Mabel, who is 
yet in school ; and Anna Bell, who is the 
wife of Elmer K. Goodsell, telegraph operator 
and agent on the Stony Clove & Catskill 
Mountain Railroad. (See biography on an- 
other page.) There are three grandchildren — 
Marguerite, Anderson, and \'era. 

Mr. Anderson has always shown a vital in- 
terest in all pnlilic affairs since first he came 
to Hunter. He has served tiie town in the 
office of Assessor for three years, as Commis- 
sioner of Streets, as trustee and clerk of the 
School ]3oard, as one of the Trustees of the vil- 
lage, and is at the i)resent time a member of 
the Town Committee. His political affilia- 
tions are with the Republican partN'. He and 
his family are members of the liajitist church, 
but the}- attend the Methodist church in 
Hunter, Mr. Anderson being a trustee of the 
church and treasurer of the board. He can 
alwa}s be depended upon to work for any good 
cause in the church as well as outside. He 
was one of the projectors of the Majilewood 
Cemeter)' Association, and for many )-cars has 
been its president. I-'i-aternall)-, he is a mem- 
ber and treasurer of Mount Tabor Lodge, No. 
807, V. & A. M., and of Mountain Chajiter, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



207 



R. A. M. He was one of the charter members 
of Catskill Chapter at Catskill. 



(chared van VVAGENEN, a wcll- 
kiiDwii and prosperous agricultLiri.st of 
Lawyersville, Schoharie County, own- 
ing and occupying the valuable estate known 
as Hillside farm, was born January 13, 1835, 
near Sharon Hill, in the neighboring town of 
Seward. Son of Rynear Van Wagenen, he is 
of Dutch ancestry, being a lineal descendant of 
Aart Jacobsen Van Wagenen, who emigrated 
from Wageningen, Holland, a town not far 
from the Rhine, to Bergen, N.J., in 1650, and 
whose name, with that of his wife, Annctji 
Gerrits, was recorded as a member of the 
Dutch church of Kingston, Bergen County, 
June 24, 1 66 1. 

Conrad Van Wagenen, grandfather of Jared, 
was born January 15, 1752, in Somerset 
County, New Jersey, whence in early manhood 
he removed to Charleston, Montgomery 
County, N.Y. , as one of its earliest settlers. 
He took up unimproved land, and, having 
cleared a portion of it, devoted himself to gen- 
eral farming, in conjunction with which he 
operated a small tannery. He subsequently 
came to Schoharie County, and, buying a farm 
near Sharon Hill, resided there until his 
death, at the venerable age of ninety years. 
Tradition says that he was present as a guard 
at the execution of Major Andre on October 2, 
1780, at Tappan. 

Rynear Van Wagenen with liis numerous 
bi'(jlhers and sisters was brought up on a farm. 



spending his earliest years in Charleston, 
N. Y. , and completing his education in the dis- 
trict schools of Sharon, whither he accompa- 
nied his parents when a boy. On reaching 
man's estate he bought land in Cobleskill, 
where for a number of years he was engaged in 
farming. His death occurred at the home of 
his son Jared, in the seventieth )'ear of his 
age. He was quite active in local matters, 
serving his fellow-townsmen in various offices 
besides that of Justice of the Peace, which he 
hekl several terms. In [lolitics he was a 
strong adherent of the Democratic party. His 
wife, Emily Goodyear, was born on Hillside 
farm, then owned by her father, Jared Good- 
year, who was born and reared in Hampden, 
Conn. Mr. Goodyear on removing to New 
York became a pioneer settler in a small town 
near Ithaca, which was named Goodyears. 
On account of malaria he left that place, and 
coming to Schoharie County bought two hun- 
dred acres of woodland in Coble.skill, and here 
spent the remainder of his life. He erected 
a log house for his first dwelling, and then 
began the improvement of his projicrty. He 
cleared a considerable tract of his land, and, 
being an energetic, progressive man, he was 
very successful not only as a farmer, but as one 
of the most popular tavern-keepers of this 
vicinity. Eour sons were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Rynear Van Wagenen, and three of them 
survive, as follows: Jared, of Lawyersville; 
Albert, of Boston, Mass. ; and Jame.s, who re- 
sides with his brother Jared. Both parents 
were mcml)ers of the Reformed church. 

Jared Van Wagenen lived at hnme until 



30,S 



l!U>c;RArilKAl, RKVIKW 



nino \o.us old, wIk'ii ho booaiiio an iiiuiato uf 
tlu' lunisoluilil of liis uiulcs, Willis and George 
Goiulyou, wliii lirought him up, their home 
being the farm where he now resides. He 
attended the distriet school and assisted in the 
farm labors until the ileath of his uncles, ami 
since that time has had entire charge of this 
magnificent farm of two Inunlreil and fifty 
acres, one of the finest in its improvements of 
anv in this section of Schoharie Ctnintv. He 
makes a specialty of dairying, keeping a herd 
of thirty or fort\' cows, and manufactures a fine 
grade of butter, which he sells to special cus- 
tomers in this \ icinity. A few years ago Mr. 
Van W'agenon built his large barn, three 
stories in height, one hundred and thirty by 
eighty - seven feet, with all nnnlern equip- 
ments, including an engine ami two siUts of 
two hundred tons capacity. 

lie h.is been an active member of the Coble- 
skill Agricultural Society; also of the New 
York State Agricidtunil Association; and is 
vice-president of the Farmers' and Merchants' 
Hank. In politics he is a loyal Democrat, and 
has been Supervisor of the town two vears. 
He contributes liberally toward the m.iinte- 
nance of the Dutch Reformed church, of which 
he and his family are members, and in which 
he has held many of the offices. 

On November iS, 1858, Mr. \'an Wagenen 
married l.oraine McNeill, the onlv child of 
Mr. and Mrs. lirazillia McNeill. Her mother 
is still living, a capable woman of eighty-si.\ 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Van Wagenen have one 
.son living; namely, Jared, Jr.. born May 14, 
1871; and have been bereft of one, Albert, 



who ilieil at the age of fifteen years, jared 
\'an Wagenen, jr., obtained his elementary 
education in I.awyersville, and after his grad- 
uation at the Cobleskill High School took the 
Hachelor's degree in 1891, and the Master's de- 
gree in 1896 at Cornell Universitx', where he 
has since taught in the Dairv Dei)artnient. 
He is now assisting his father on the home 
farm. He mariied Magdalena l.amont, the 
only child of K. W. Lamont, a prominent 
farmer of this town. Two children have been 
born of this union; namely, Sarah Lamont and 
Loraine McNeill. 



'jY^rDOLni BESTLE, M.D., a leading 
ihysician and surgeon of Hunter, 
N.Y. , was born in Troy, this State, 
on August 20, 1866, his jiarents being John 
and Wilhelmina (Shutheis) Bestle. His 
father, who was of German birth, came to 
Troy, N.Y. , before marriage, and engaged in 
the restaurant business. He died when only 
thirty-four years of age. He and his wife were 
members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. 
Bestle also was born in Germany, being one of 
a family of several children. She is still liv- 
ing at Kingston, this State. Her father, who 
was a druggist and nieilical practitioner, lived 
to the advanced age of ninety-eight years. Of 
her eight children, four are living, namely: 
George, who resides in New York; Henrietta, 
who married William \\"eston, of Rondout ; 
August ; and Rudolph, the special subject of 
this biography. 

Rudolph Bestle received his elementary edu- 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEVV 



209 



cation ill the coniiiioii sciiools, and at the age 
of eighteen began the study of medicine with 
Dr. McLane, a leading physician of Troy, and 
Dr. O' Conner of the Troy Hospital. He sub- 
sequently entered the Albany Medical College, 
and was graduated at that institution in 1888, 
at twenty-one years of age, standing high in 
his class. He innnediately began the practice 
of his profession in Troy, but eighteen months 
later removed to lUu'ke, in iManklyn County, 
N. Y., where he remaineil foi' the next six 
years. He then came to Hunter, where he has 
since been in |)ractice. He is a general piac- 
titioner, and also a surgeon of unusual skill, 
having performed many difficult operations. 
During his two years in the Troy Hosjiital, and 
for several months while he was in the New 
York I'olyclinic, he had a large amount of val- 
uable experience in attending cases of appendi- 
citi.s, and in his subsequent practice he has had 
r«markable success with the many cases of that 
nature brought to him for treatment. 

Dr. Bestle is a member both of the Greene 
County Medical Society and of the Medical 
Society of Northern New York. He is also a 
member of the .Sixth .Separate Company of 
militia of Tro), anil of the Arba Reed Steamer 
Company of that city. Fraternally, he holds 
mend)ership in l''rontier Lodge, V. & A. M., of 
Chateaugay. In politics the Doctor is a Re- 
]iublican, antl in religious faith an ICpiscopa- 
lian, being connected with .Sf. Paul's Episco- 
pal Church of Troy. Although he has been in 
Hunter a comparatively sht)rt lime, he has al- 
read}' built up a large pi'actice, and is very 
popular both socially and professionally. 




\C/^;/ I'LLINGTON E. HASSLER, one of 
the leading business men of Middle- 
burg, N.Y. , was born on August ig, 1S4S, .son 
of David and Augusta (Tibbit.s) Bassler. His 
IKiternal grandfather was Henry Hassler. He 
was born in Knox, Albany County, and s[)ent 
his early years in that ))lace. After his mar- 
riage he came to Huntersland, this town, and 
settled on what is now known as the IJassler 
homestead, where he spent the remainder of 
his life, anil where he died at the age of forty- 
four. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary 
Saddlemyer, was also a native of Albany 
County. She lived to reach the age of eighty- 
nine. Of the ten children born to her, five 
are living, namely: Amanda, who married Re- 
solved Macombcr; Amaziah ; Eliza Ann, who 
married lY-leg Cook; Sylvester, who occupies 
the old homestead; and Eucy, who married 
Salem Smith, and resides near Rensselaerville, 
Albany County. 

David ]5assler, who was born in Hunters- 
land, March 22, 1S22, and died Sejitember 13, 
1893, was reared on tbe home farm, and up to 
1859, with the exception of one year, was en- 
gaged exclusively in agricultural work. In 
1S60 he went into mercantile life in Ihmters- 
land; and in 1869 lie bought the I.uther 
Vroman store in Middleburg, at the corner of 
Main Street and Railroad Avenue, and thus 
became the pioprietor of what to-day, under the 
efficient management of his successors, is one 
of the leading stores in town. David 15assler's 
wife, to whom he was married in October, 
1S47, was the daughter of Harry and 15etsy 
(Styles) Tibbits, of Huntersland, early resi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



dents of the town. Mr. Tibbits lived to be 
eighty-five years of age, and Mrs. Tibbits lived 
to be sixty. Mrs. Augusta T. Bassler, who 
died on September 7, 1S80, at the age of fifty- 
two, was one of four daughters born to her 
parents. She was a member of the Christian 
church at lluntersland. llcr children were. 
Wellington K. ]5assler; Ida, who married Peter 
Wormer; and VAVa. who married George H. 
Hyde, of Middleburg. 

Wellington E. l^assler was educated in the 
public schools, and at .Starkey Seminary, from 
which he was graduated in June, iS6g. Fol- 
lowing this he was clerk in his father's store 
for two years, and then in 1S71 he was admitted 
to a half-interest in the business, which as- 
sumed the name of D. Bassler & Son. In 
April, 1875, John H. Cornell bought the elder 
Mr. Bassler's interest, and the firm name was 
changed to Hassler & Cornell. On January i, 
1880, Mr. Cornell retired. In 1887 Mr. Bass- 
ler took into partnership two of his clerks, 
C. L. McBain and George B. Wheeler, and 
the firm name has since been W. E. Bas.sler 
& Co. 

Mr. ]5assler is a wide-awake man, and is in- 
terested in varied enterprises of a progressive 
character. He is a warm-hearted Republican, 
and has been connected with the Republican 
County Committee for some time, six years as 
its chairman, and a number of years as secre- 
tary of the committee. On AjmII i, 1889, he 
assumed the duties of Postma.ster of Middle- 
burg. lie held this position five years, and in 
that time he greatly improved the postal ser- 
vice of this town, had the satisfaction of seeing 



the office raised from the fourth class to the 
third class list, and the position of Postmaster 
made a salaried one. Since then the salary 
has been increased by five hundred dollars. 
Mr. Bassler was nominated for the Assembly 
in 1894, and again in 1S96, and in both in- 
stances ran ahead of his ticket by huiuh'etls of 
votes. Since 1894 he has been president of the 
Mutual Fire InsLuance Association, which was 
formed that year by the business men of Mid- 
dleburg, to embrace Schoharie, Otsego, and 
Albany Counties, Chenango and Montgomery 
Counties having been added since. This as- 
sociation has met with remarkable success, and 
does a very large amount of business. Mr. 
Bassler is also a director in the (^ak Hill and 
MidJleburg Local Exchange Telephone Com- 
panies; a director ()f the First National Bank 
of Middlebiu'g; directcjr of the Middleburg and 
Schoharie Railroad; and president of tlie hoaid 
of trustees of Starkey .Seminary, which position 
he has held since 1881. He was a trustee of 
Middleburg Academy for six years, and for 
four years of the time president of the board. 
Ten years ago he founded the .Starkey Semi- 
nary Monthly, of which he was the editcir until 
1897. Mr. l^assler is an active worker in the 
Reformed chui'ch, and since 18S4 has been 
superintendent of its Sunday-school. From 
1882 to 1 888 he was secretary of the County 
Association of Suntlay-schools, and subse- 
cpiently for five years he was president (if the 
association. .Since 1893 he has been jiresident 
of the Schoharie County liible Society. 

Mr. Bassler's store is in a most prosi)erous 
condition. Four assistants are employed in its 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



management; and since it is one of the old- 
established business enterprises in this region, 
and has always maintained its early rejjutation 
for honest dealing and high grade goods, it has 
the confidence and the patronage of the public. 

Mr. Bassler has seen many and important 
changes in Middleburg since he first began 
business here. The handsome school-house 
has been built, many of the big business blocks 
have been erected, and a water supply system 
has been introduced into the town. He him- 
.self has aided in many of the more noteworthy 
improvements. On January i, 1890, he asso- 
ciated himself with Mr. G. L. Fox in founding 
the Middleburg Nczvs, a paper advanced in rank 
and one now growing steadily in favor, as well 
as one which bears the distinction of being the 
first Republican paper in this end of the 
county. 

In 1874 Mr. Bassler was united in marriage 
with Alida, only child of Hezekiah Manning, 
and a native of this place. Mr. Manning was 
born here, and spent his entire life engaged in 
farming. He died in 1889. Mis wife, whose 
maiden name was Maria Beekman, was born in 
Sharon. She resides with Mr. and Mrs. Bass- 
ler. Since his marriage Mr. Bassler has made 
his home at the old Manning homestead, which 
is a very attractive place just outside the vil- 
lage, the house being sheltered by tall elms 
and stately pines, surrounded by extensive 
grounds, and guarded by the dark-browed, lofty 
cliffs which stand as venerable sentinels at the 
eastern portals of the .Schoharie Valley. Mr. 
liassler is a great fancier of poultry, and has 
model poultry yards, where he raises many 



fancy breeds, such as Leghorns, Plymouth 
Rocks, and Light Bramahs. He makes a 
feature of egg-producing poultry, and ships 
eggs West as far as Colorado, and South as far 
as Maryland. He is also a fancier of Holstein 
cattle. 



§OIIN A. MYER.S, a veteran agricult- 
urist of Seward, N. Y. , living about two 
miles from the village of Hyndsville, 
was born in this town, March 27, 18 19, a son 
of Philip P. and Catherine (Strobeck) Myens. 
His paternal grandfather, Peter Myers, came 
from Dutchess County to Schoharie County at 
an early period of its hist(jry, and for a short 
time lived in Seward. He removed from here 
to Otsego County, and, purchasing land near 
the town of South Valley, improved a farm, on 
which he resided many years. He finally re- 
turned to Seward, and died at the home of 
his son, Philip P. He was twice married, and 
by his second wife, who was the grandmother 
of John A., had five children. 

Philip P. Myers, son of Peter, was reared to 
farming pursuits, and soon after his marriage 
settled on the Myers homestead, now owned 
and occupied by his son, John A. Here he 
toiled with persistent energy to clear anil im- 
prove a farm, and was numbered among the re- 
spected and successful farmers of the neighbor- 
hood. His death occurred at the age of three- 
score years and ten. He was a strong sup- 
porter of the 'principles of the Democratic 
party, but never aspired to political office. 
LI is wife, Catherine, was born in Sewartl, 
being one of the si.x children of John A. 



IJIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Strobeck, a prominent pioneer farmer of the 
town, and one of its most esteemed citizens. 
Mr. Strobeck as a young man served in the war 
of tlie Revolution, and in one of its battles was 
severely wounded. He attained the advanced 
age of eighty years. Philip P. and Catherine S. 
Myers reared six children, two of whom are 
living, namely: John A., the first-born; and 
Catherine, resitling in l'2ast Worcester, being 
tiie wife of Abraham Smith, who is her second 
husband. 

John A. M\ers was educated in the district 
school. VoY three and one-half years after his 
marriage he li\cd on the old home farm with 
his parents, subsequently lived for a year with 
his father-in-law, and then rented a farm on 
shares for four years. Having accumulated 
some money, he next bought a farm of one 
hundred and nine acres on Winegard Hill, 
where lie lived for eighteen years, when he 
sold that antl jnirchased a larger farm, of one 
hundred and forty acres, which he carried on 
two years. Returning then to the old home- 
stead, he took charge of it until the death of 
his father, and after that event he bought out 
the other heirs, and has since been its sole 
l^ossessor. This i>lace contains one hunilred 
and twenty-five acres of land, most of which is 
under cultivation; and he has also another es- 
tate near by of one hundred and twenty-two 
acres, which he rents by the year. He has 
practically given up the management of his 
property to his son Peter, who lives with him, 
and they are carrying on general farming and 
dairying with signal success, and arc also en- 
gaged to some extent in manufacturing lumber. 



In politics I\Ir. M\ers is identified with the 
Democratic ])arty, but has persistently refused 
to accept all offices excepting those of High- 
way Commissioner and Collector of Taxes, 
both of which he filled a short time. He is 
an active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, of wliich he has been trustee and 
steward, and has been connected with the 
Sunday-school. 

On May 28, 1839, Mr. Myers married Emily 
15. \'oungs, who was born in Seward, a daugh- 
ter of Adam Youngs, formerly a well-to-do 
farmer and lumber manufacturer, he having 
been owner of the saw-mill now operated by 
Mr. Myers and his son. Mr. and Mrs. Myers 
have had nine children, six of whom grew to 
mature years, namely : Adam, a jihysician in 
Buskirk, Rensselaer County, who married Mary 
Diefendorf, and has two children — Victor and 
Ralph; Millard, deceased, who married Han- 
nah Shear, and had one child, Emily; P'lmira, 
the wife of Harvey Oliver, a farmer; Peter, 
who lives on the home farm, married Mary 
Marks, and has three children — John D., 
Howard C, and Dewey Willard; Lorenzo, the 
oldest child, who died leaving a widow, whose 
maiden name was Lottie M. .Simmonds, and 
one child, Lewis; and Julia, who died at the 
age of eighteen years. 




'Rh:Di:RICK EISENMENGER, I'olice 
Justice, Schenectady, N.Y., was born 
in this city, March 21, 1849, son of ?'erdinand 
and Wilhelmina (Laman) Eisenmenger. 'I'he 




FREDERICK EISENMENGER. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



l)arents were born in Germany, the father 
about the year 1827. 

In 1846, having acquired a good education 
and mastered the machinist's trade, he came 
to tiie United States, intending to engage in 
business. Instead of adhering to his original 
jdan, he entered the employ of the Schenec- 
tady & Utica Railway Company, with whom 
he remained about sixteen years. In 1862 
he enlisted as a private in Company K, 
One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, 
New York Volunteers, with which he served 
in the Civil War until fatally vv(junded in 
May, 1864, his death occurring on June 16 of 
the same year. Mrs. Wilhelmina Eisen- 
menger, his wife, was left with two children: 
Pauline, who died in 1865, aged five years; 
and Frederick, the subject of this sketch. 
The mother died in 1886, at the age of sixty- 
eight. 

On August II, 1862, Frederick Fisen- 
menger, when but thirteen years old, joined 
the same regiment in which his father en- 
listed, and was enrolled in the ranks of Com- 
[lany 15, being one of the youngest vohmteers 
to enter the service. He was detailed to serve 
at division headquarters under Major-general 
John VV. Geary, commander of the Second 
Division, Twentieth Army Corps, and after- 
ward Governor of Pennsylvania. While in front 
of Atlanta he received a severe woiinil in 
the jaw, and he was mustered out with his 
regiment in June, 1865. In 1868 he began a 
four years' apprenticeship at the machinist's 
trade in the Schenectady Locomotive Works, 
and he completed the term. Feeling the need 



of a better education, he studied nights, and 
while still employed at the works he began to 
read law under the direction of Judge Yates. 
He practised his profession until May 2, 1882, 
when he was appointed Police Justice. The 
duties of this position he has performed with 
marked ability for over sixteen years. His 
present term will expire in 1900. 

In September, 1874, Judge Fisenmenger 
married Louisa, daughter of the late Louis 
Pepper, of this city. They have two children, 
namely : P^rederick, who was graduated from 
the high school in 1895, and is now in the ex- 
perimental department of the General Electri- 
cal Works; and Clara, now a student at the 
high school. 

Judge Fisenmenger belongs to St. George 
Lodge, No. 6, F. & A. M. ; is Past Com- 
mander of Horsfall Post, No. go, G. A. R. ; 
and president of the One Hundred and Thirty- 
fourth Regimental Association. He is a 
member and has been an official of the Meth- 
odist I{piscopal church. His residence at 105 
Union Avenue was built by him in 1887, and 
he purchased for his mother the house in which 
she spent lier last yeans. 



<^*^» 




ILLIAM W. PURGFTT, M.D., of 

'-^V the village of Fultonham, one of 
tlie foremost physicians and surgeons of Scho- 
harie County, was born in P'ultonham, May 14, 
i860. He is the son of Charles S. and Julia 
A. (Teller) Purgett, and is a lineal descendant 
in the sixth generation of one of two brothers 
who came from Holland to America in the 



2l6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



early part of the eighteenth century and set- 
tled on Manhattan Island. They bought land, 
and afterward leased one hundred acres near 
the present site of Trinity Church in New 
■S'ork City, for a term of ninety-nine years, 
l^oth married, and both had sons in the Re\o- 
lutionary arm)-. "Hurghardt," the original 
spelling of their surname, was retained until 
within a comparatively few years. 

I\Iillbur\- 15urghardt, or Hurgelt, the next in 
line of descent, was a jjioneer of .Schoharie 
County, and the founder of the family in Ful- 
ton, where he reared his eight children, one of 
whom, Millbury, was the succeeding ancestor. 
Storm Burgett, son of Conrad Burgett, was the 
Doctor's grandfather. lie was born in I'ul- 
ton, and there he liveil and died. He owned 
the farm now in the jiossession of Mr. C. E. 
Markham, of whom a brief sketch may be 
found on another jJage of this volume. He 
was a wagon-maker and carpenter b\' trade, oc- 
cu[)ations at which he worked in conjunction 
with farming, and was well known as one of 
the most industrious and thrifty men of the 
community. To Storm Burgett and his wife, 
whose maiden name was Sally lianner, si.\ 
children were born, three of whom are li\ing; 
namely, Charles .S., Lydia, wife of Timothy 
Becker, and Peter. 

Charles S. Burgett was born in P^dton, .'\u- 
gust 30, I S3 1, and spent his earlier years on 
the home farm. He subsequently learned the 
blacksmith's trade, at which he continued to 
Work until 1866, when he bought the hotel 
which he has since managed successfidly. He 
is a stanch Democrat in jxditics, but has never 



been an aspirant for official honors. Botli he 
and his wife are members of the Lutheran 
church. In 185 i he married Julia ^\. Teller, 
who was born August 4, 1S32, in Indton. 

Her father, Cornelius Teller, spent the en- 
tire si.\ty-one years of his life in this town, 
being engaged during his active period in 
agricultural pursuits on a small farm that he 
had bought near his boyhootl's home. He was 
one of the leading Democrats of this vicjnity, 
and served as a Tax Cidlector two terms in the 
earlier j^art of this century, when the entire 
receipts for the year were but one thousand 
one hundred dollars, against the eight thou- 
sand dollars collected in i.SgS. His wife, 
Lavinia \'r()man, was a daughter of Martin 
Woman, a lifelong farmer of what is now the 
town of Middleburg; and Lavinia V^roman's 
mother, the grandmother of Mrs. Charles S. 
Burgett, was before marriage a Miss Zeie, 
who was born in Mitldleburg in Colonial days, 
and from the age of seven to fourteen years, 
during the entire jieriod of the Revolution, 
lived in the L'pper P'ort. Corneliii-s Teller's 
father, William Teller, was born in Schenec- 
tady, N.V., whence he came when a young 
man to this county, and in 1800 settled in the 
town of Miildleburg, where he lived until his 
death, at the age of forty-two years. He was 
a shoemaker by trade. After coming here he 
married Maggie Feeck, the descendant of one 
of the original settlers of this ]iart of the 
county. .She survived him, living to the age 
of fifty-six years. Both were acti\e members 
of the Reformed church. They reared eight 
children. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



217 



Of the five chiklrLMi born of the union of 
Charles S. and Julia A. (Teller) Burgett, three 
are still living; namely, Marion, the Doctor, 
and Laura. Marion, after the death of her first 
husband, Frank P. Haynes, married Warren 
P. Hollenbeck, a prominent farmer in the town 
of Broome, N.Y. Laura married first liarland 
Haynes, of Fulton, who died leaving her with 
one child, Marion Harland. She is now the 
wife of F. J. Graham, a shoe dealer of New 
York City, and has one child by this marriage, 
Mildred. Both parents are members of the 
Lutheran church. 

William W. Burgett obtained the rudiments 
of his education in the public schools of Ful- 
tonham, and was further advanced in learning 
by a course of study at the high school under 
Professor Sias, of whom a biographical sketch 
appears elsewhere in this Review. A short 
time he spent as a clerk in the store of H. T. 
Kingsley, and he taught school one term in 
Fulton. Going then to Schoharie, he read 
medicine two years with Dr. Layman, after 
which he entered the medical department of 
the University of New York City, from which 
he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine 
in March, 1S82, at the age of twenty-one 
years. In addition to the regular curriculum 
of the university, he took special clinical e.\- 
aminations at Bellevue Hospital under Profes- 
sor William 11. Thompson, while at the same 
hospital he received jirivate instruction in 
physical diagnosis from Professor Alfred L. 
I.oomis, in operative surgery from Professor J. 
W. Wright, and in urinary analyses under Pro- 
fessor John C. Draper. Returning to P"ulton- 



ham immediately after his gradu.ttion, Dr. 
Burgett here began the duties of his profession, 
and has since built up a large and successful 
patronage as a general medical practitioner. 
In 1884 he erected his present residence in the 
village, and also a substantial barn on the same 
lot. He has served a number of terms on the 
local Board of Health, and for si.\ years has been 
County Coroner. Politically, he is a sound 
Democrat. He is a member of the Schoharie 
County Medical Society, of which he has been 
vice-president and president. He is also a 
member of Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, V. & 
A. M. , and is at present Master of FuJtonham 
Grange, No. 809. 

On September 25, 1883, Dr. Burgett mar- 
ried Miss Maggie PI Schaeffer, who was boin 
in P^ulton, daughter of Hendrick Schaeffer, a 
retired farmer (jf P'ulton. Among the pioneer 
settlers of the town of Schoharie was Christian 
Schaeffer, one of the largest landholders of that 
locality, whose son, Jacob Henry, born in 
Schoharie in 1808, was the grandfather of Mrs. 
Burgett. Grandfather Schaeffer was a lifelong 
agriculturist of Schoharie, where he spent his 
eighty-eight years of earthly existence, and 
was one of its most esteemed citizens. He 
was a Republican in politics, and served as an 
Overseer of the Poor. He contributed liber- 
ally toward the support of the Lutheran church, 
of which he was one of the oldest and most in- 
fluential members. His wife, Ann Alida 
Groesbeck, who died at the age of eighty-four 
years, bore liim ten children. Hendrick 
Schaeffer marrietl Helen Borst, a native of 
Middleburg, and a daugiiter of Peter H. Borst, 



!l8 



BIOGRAPHICAL RPA'IEW 



the representative of an early family of Scho- 
harie County, and himself one of the most 
wealthy and prominent of its farmers. He 
was a member of the Lutheran church, and his 
death, at the age of sixty-five years, removed 
from that ori;anization one of its substantial 
sujjporters. His wife, Nancy I-lffner, a lite- 
lony resident of Middleburg, died in 1861. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick Schaeffer reared four 
children, of whom three are living, as follows: 
Charles, a farmer in Schoharie; Alida, wife of 
Seneca Maynes ; and Maggie E. , now Mrs. 
Burgett. Peter, a carpenter, died at the age 
of thirty-five years. 

Dr. and Mrs. Burgett have two children, 
namely: William Layman, who was named for 
one of the Doctor's early preceptors; and 
Ch;nies Leland. Dr. Burgett is an elder and 
one of the trustees of the Lutheran church, 
and Mrs. Burgett also is an active church 
member, and for many years has been a teacher 
in the Sunday-school. 




,\CAY ll-'-'-^'^' !'■ '^"■:AD, M.l)., the vet- 
eran physician and surgeon of Wind- 
ham, Greene County, N.Y. , was born in 
Jevvett, this county, on April 6, 1833, to 
Stephen and Caroline (Hosford) Mead. His 
great-grandfather Hosford, whose Christian 
name was Gideon, was a prominent farmer and 
land-owner in Farmington, Conn., and Dr. 
Mead has in his possession some of the ances- 
tral deeds bearing the .seal of King George. 

Philip Mead, the Doctor's paternal grand- 
father, was born in Dutchess County, New 



York, and grew up on a farm. He removed to 
Jewctt when his son Stephen was five years 
old, finding his way hither by following 
marked trees. He lived first in most primi- 
tive fashion in a log hut, but in time cleared 
a goodly tract of land and erected a commodi- 
ous frame house. He was a lifelong farmer. 
After spending some years in Jevvett, he went 
to Cayuga, near Weedsport, where he resided 
until his death, at sixty years of age. The 
maiden name of his wife was Hannah Town- 
send. The)- had a large family of children. 

The Doctor's father, Stephen Mead, was 
born in Dutchess County, and reared to farm 
life. When he became of age he purchased 
a farm in Jewctt, where he spent the remainder 
of his life, anil where he died at the age of 
eighty-six. Lie followed agriculture and lum- 
bering, and did a large business in selling 
bark to tanners. He and his wife, Caroline, 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Mrs. Mead died at the age of sixty- 
nine. She was the daughter of Joel and Maria 
Hosfortl, farmer folk of Jewett. Her father 
died at the age of eighty-four, and her mother, 
who was of Dutch descent, died while quite a 
young woman, although .she lived to bear four 
children. Stephen and Caroline Mead were 
also the parents of foui" children, three of whom 
are living, namely: Dr. William 11., of Wind- 
ham; Dr. J. H. Mead, of Hunter, a sketch of 
whose life is to be found on another page; and 
Adeline, who married Alanson Woodworth, of 
LIuntcr, whose biography also appears in this 
volume. 

William II. Mead's early life was spent on 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



219 



his father's farm in Jewett. He attended the 
common schools of the town, and later became 
a teacher in them and in the schools of Hunter. 
After teaching for several years he took up the 
stuily of medicine with his brother Joel, then 
settled in Hunter, and he subsequentl}- attended 
the Albany Medical College. After his grad- 
uation in 1868 he began practice in Ashland, 
where he remained until 1879, when he came 
to Windham. He has now been in continuous 
practice here for thirty years, and, barring one 
or two exceptions, is the oldest medical practi- 
tioner in service in the county. He has given 
much attention to surgery, and has performed 
some remarkable operations, his skill being 
known throughout the county. His career as 
a general practitioner has also been a distin- 
guished one. 

In 1856 Dr. William H. Mead was united 
in marriage with Matilda Winter, daughter, 
and one of a number of children, of Moses 
Winter, a farmer of Jewett. Mrs. Mead died 
November 26, 1896. Of the three childien 
born to her, one died at the age of ten months, 
and another at the age of five years. A daugh- 
ter, Eugenie, is living. She is the wife of 
Emery A. Hill, a well-known Windham 
farmer, and has two children — Blanche and 
William Henry. 

Dr. Mead is a stanch Republican. His first 
Presidential vote was cast in 1856, and he has 
voted every election since with the exception 
of one. He has held a few minor ofifices in 
the village, but in the main has refused public 
office. He is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity in this town, and was elected Junior 



Warden within two weeks after joining the 
organization. He has been a member of the 
Greene County Medical Society ever since it 
was started, twenty-five years ago. His church 
connections are with the Methodist society of 
this place, of wdiich also his wife was a mem- 
ber. For many years he w^as steward in the 
church, but within a short time he has tendered 
his resignation of that office. For many years, 
too, he was a teacher in the .Sunday-school and 
chorister of the church. During their resi- 
dence in Ashland Mrs. Mead also was a 
teacher. Throughout his long and useful life 
the Doctor has been a promoter of e\'er)' good 
and philanthropic cause, and has been actively 
interested in every effort to promote the well- 
be in"; of his fellows. 



OHN ROSSMAN, M.D., a prominent 
physician of Schoharie Count}' and a 
resident of Middleburg, was born in 
the town of Fulton on March 8, 1S47, his 
parents being George and Marietta (Beard) 
Rossman. His first ancestors in this country 
came from Germany, and were among the early 
settlers of Columbia County, Yew York. His 
grandfather, whose name was Christopher, was 
born in that county, and li\'ed there iluring 
early life. ]5efore the birth of his son George, 
Christopher Rossman removed to Schoharie 
County and settled in Summit, where he 
passed the remainder of his life. In politics 
he was a Republican, and both he and his wife 
were members of the Methodist church. Mrs. 
Rossman, whose maiden name was Lana 



r.IOr. liAPII ICAI, RK\- 1 E\V 



Mickel, wns born in Schoharie of an old fam- 
ily. She was the mother of fourteen children, 
all of whom grew to maturity. They were 
named as follows: George, Mary, John, l^etsy, 
William, Christina, Nathaniel, Phoebe, David, 
Lucy, ("harles, Huldah, Jane, and Cassie. 

Dr. Rossman's father was born in Summit, 
received his education in the common scliools 
there, and subsequentl\' remoNcd to h'ultDn, 
where he bought a farm and resitted until his 
death, at the age of forty-seven. Politically, 
George Kossman was at first a Republican and 
later a Democrat. For twenty-two years he 
served as a Justice of the Peace. He was 
twice married. His first wife. Marietta, who 
died when their sun John was four years of age, 
was born in Riclmidndville. She was a daugh- 
ter of Jacob Heard, and one of a family nf four 
cliildren. Her father was a farmer of that 
town, and subsequently of Fulton. Late in 
life he removed to Geneseo County, where he 
died at the advanced age of ninety. Mrs. 
Marietta H. Rossman was the muther of two 
children. Her daughter, Louise, is deceased. 
The second wife of George Kossman was before 
her marriage Marcia Holmes. She also was 
boiii in P'ulton, of one of the old families. 
She died at the age of forty. 

John Kossman in his bo\hood and youth se- 
cured a good common-school education in the 
public schools, which he attendeil both sununer 
and winter. In 1865 he began to read medi- 
cine with Dr. J. D. Wheeler, of Middlebnrg, 
and in I S6S he was graduated at the Philadel- 
|)hia University of Medicine and .Surgerw He 
began practising with Dr. Wheeler, but at the 



end of a )ear went to West Fulton and started 
an independent practice. Three years later he 
returned and again engaged with his former 
partner, but after a year of joint work tlie two 
doctors severed their connection, and since 
then Dr. Rossman has workeil alone. He has 
built up a large general practice, and is now 
the oldest physician in town in jioiiit of 
service. 

The Doctor married his first wife, Mary, 
the daughter of Cornelius IJouck, in 1869. 
.She died at the age of twenty eight, lea\ing 
three children — Marietta, Anna A., and 
Charles H. Marietta married M. J. V'roman, 
antl is the mother of three children — Cecil, 
Lena, and Marguerite. Anna is the wife of 
Di". .Simpkins of this town. Charles married 
Agnes McLean, anil has one child, Marion, by 
name. The Doctor's second wife, whose 
maiden name was Lizzie ]5. Smith, is a native 
of Middleburg, and the daughter of Silas 
Smith. She is a member of the Fpiscojial 
church, but an attendant of the Reformed 
churcli. 

I'or the past fifteen years Dr. Rossman has 
been Health Officer of the town, holding his 
office by annual le-elections. He is an acti\e 
and influential member of the Schoharie Medi- 
cal .Society, and was .secretary of the ]5oard of 
Pension L.xaminers for the county. He is a 
Democrat, but never an office-seeker; in fact, 
he has never been willing to accept luiblic 
office, except in cases where it has seemed 
])lainl\- his duty to do .so. He is a member of 
Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, V. & A. M. ; of 
John L. Lewis Chapter, No. 229; of .St. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



George's Commandery, No. ^y ; La Bastile 
Lodge, No. 494, I. O. O. F. ; and Middlebiirg 
lilncampment, No. 129. In the Blue Lodge he 
has held all the offices, hax'ing been Master for 
two years, and secretary and Junior Warden for 
the same length of time each. He is Past 
Noble Grand of the Subordinate Lodge of this 
district, and Past Chief Patriarch of the En- 
campment, and was District Deput}' for two 
years. For seven years he has been president 
of the Middlcburg Cemetery Organization. 




r^YLVESTER B. SAGE, of Cat.skill, 

^/^ dealer in carriages and harnesses, 
and present member of the New 
York Assembly from Greene County, was 
born in Prattsville on September 8, 1S36, son 
of Hart C. and Clarissa H. (Van Luven) Sage. 

The founder of the Sage family in America 
is said to have been David Sage, who came to 
New England in 1652, and .settled at Middle- 
town, Conn., where he died in 1703, aged 
sixty-four years. 

David Sage of a later generation, grand- 
father of Mr. Sage, of Catskill, was one of the 
early settlers of Broome, Schoharie County, 
N.Y., and resided on a farm there throughout 
the greater part of his life. 

Hart C. Sage, son of the second David here 
mentioned, was brought up on the farm in 
I'roome, but after his marriage came to Cat- 
skill. Here he remained two years engaged 
in mercantile business, and at the end of that 
time went to Prattsville, where he carried on 
a store. He died at the age of thirty-si.v. In 



early life he taught school for several terms. 
He w-as prominent among the Odd Fellows, 
and after he went to Prattsville he built a hall 
there for the organization. He was a member 
of the Presbyterian church, and conformed his 
daily life and walk to his professed beliefs. 
His wife, Clarissa, who shared his religious 
faith, was ])orn in Broome. She w-as a de- 
scendant of one of the early settlers there, and 
one of a large family of children. She died at 
seventy, having been the motlier of five chil- 
dren, namely: Osmar C, who is now deceased; 
Omar V.; Sylvester B. ; H. Clarence; and 
Hart C. , Jr., al.so deceased. Omar V. Sage 
is a well-known public man. He was Clerk 
of Greene County for two terms, and member 
of the New York Assembly two terms, and for 
the past five years he has held the imp(.)rtant 
position of Warden of Sing Sing Prison. H. 
Clarence Sage is a professor of music, residing 
in New York City. 

Sylvester B. Sage when a lad of ele\'en years 
lost his father, and at a very early age he w^as 
obliged to shift for himself. After working in 
Prattsville for a time as clerk in a store, he 
was in business there down to 1869. He then 
sold out his trade and stock and came to Cat- 
skill, and for eleven years, from 1869 to 1880, 
conducted a grocery here. In 1880 he received 
an appointment as under sheriff, and this office 
he filled in an entirely acceptable manner for 
three years. At the end of that time he 
opened his present business, which has since 
proved to be such a success. In his extensive 
warerooms on Main Street are to be found 
vehicles of all kinds, harnesses, whijis, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



general horse and carriage furnishings. He 
docs a larger business in this line than any 
other firm between .\li)any and \'e\v Yori<. 
He makes niaii}- of tlie harnesses he carries in 
stock, and sells many at wholesale, keeping 
five harness-makers employed the entire year. 
All wagons and carriages to he found in his 
repository are built by the best manufacturers. 
He employ's fourteen men in the store, and 
sells at both wholesale anil retail. He is 
among the oldest business men mi the street, 
and, with two or three exceptions, the oldest 
in the to\\>n. 

In politics Mr. Sage is a Democrat. He 
held the office of Town Collector for a year, 
and that of Police Justice for si.\ years, antl 
was then apjjointed Under Sheriff. He has 
also been on the 15<iard of lulucation se\eral 
years, and was clerk of the board during the 
greater part of his jieriod of membership. In 
1897 he was elected to the Assembly, receiv- 
ing three thousand, eight hundred and si.vteen 
votes, against three thousand, four bundled and 
fift)-three for Jdhn B. Logendyke. During 
that year he was a member of the Committees 
on Internal Affairs and Villages. In 1898 he 
was again elected to the Assembly, against 
D. G. Green, of Co.xsackie, and is now serving 
on the Connnittees on (ieneral Laws and Re- 
\ision, the two best in the House. 

Mr. Sage marrietl, in 18C1, Alice, daughter 
of Darius W. Smith, proprietor of a sale stable 
in 24th .Street, New York. Of this imion two 
children have been born — P'rancis \'. and 
Clarence B. The latter is in business with 
bis father. Mr. Safe's business is located in 



one of the handsomest blocks in Catskill, and 
his residence, purchased in 1872, occupies one 
of the most sightly spots in the town. 

Mr. Sage is a member of Catskill Lodge, 
No. 468, having joined man)- \ears ago. He 
held the office of Clerk for a long time, but has 
declined all other offices. He is at the present 
time vice-president of the Catskill Driving 
Park Association, and president of the Moun- 
tain Dew Krewery, and a director in both or- 
ganizations; also a member of the li.xecutive 
Committee of the Retail Carriage Dealers' 
Protective Association, which is a national or- 
ganization. In 1895 he was ]iresident of the 
association. Mr. .Sage and his family are all 
members of the Presbyterian chinch. He is 
one of Catskill's most ]irogressi\e and most 
highly respected citizens. 




HARLES !•:. WEI DM AN, M.D., 

the well-known medical practitioner of 



Galluinille, in the town (il Wright, 
his native jdace, was born on November 8, 
1870, his parents being Daniel and Louisa 
(\'roman) Weidman. His grandfather, Peter 
I. Weidman, who was l)orn in Middleburg, 
was a farmer by occu[)ation, and there spent 
the early part of liis active life. Later he 
li\'ed in the town of New Scotland for ten 
years, and at the end of that time came to 
Wright, where he died at the age of seventy- 
five. Peter I. Weiihnan's wife, the Doctor's 
giandnidther, Etlith Houghtaling, a native of 
New Scotland, Albany Count)', is still living 
on the old farm. All her life she has been 




CHARLES E. WEIOTNTAN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



225 



a devoted member of the Lutheran church. Of 
the five children born to her, only one is living. 

Daniel Weidman, son of Peter I., was reared 
on a farm, and received his education in the 
common schools. He spent the later years of 
his life on the old homestead, his death occur- 
ring at the age of fifty-two. In politics he 
was a stanch Republican, as his father before 
him had been. He was a leading agriculturist 
of his town and an acti\e member of the 
Lutheran church. 

Dr. Weidman 's mother, who was the daugh- 
ter of Albert Vroman and one of a family of 
eleven children, was born in 1846, in the town 
of Guilderland, in Albany Count}', this State. 
Her father was a speculator in farm produce. 
Ller mother, whose maiden name was Van 
Aurnuni, is still li\ing. Besides the Doctor, 
Mrs. Weidman had two children, namely: Aus- 
tin J. ; and Edith, who is the wife of Charles 
S. Young. Mrs. Weidman died in 1889 at 
the age of forty-three. Both parents were 
memlxM's of the Lutheran church, and the 
father had held the office of Deacon as well 
as others of less importance. 

The boyhood of Dr. Weidman was spent on 
the home farm. He attended the common 
schools and Hartwick Seminary, graduating 
from the last-named institution in i8gi. 
Subsequent to this he taught school in Gal- 
lupville for two years. He pursued the stud)- 
of medicine in the Albany Medical College, 
was graduated in 1S95, and since that time 
has been located here. He has demonstrated 
his fitness for the profession in which he has 
engaged, and has iniilt up a flnurishing prac- 



tice, his ability being recognized by all who 
have had occasion to call upon him. Al- 
though he has been here but a comparatively 
short time, he has won many friends profes- 
sionally; and his services are in recpiisition, 
not only in the village, but also in the outly- 
ing districts. 

Dr. Weidman was married in the fall of 
1896 to Minnetta C. Barringer, who was born 
in Germantown, Columbia County. She is the 
daughter of John I. Barringer, a druggist of 
Hudson, formerly of Germantown, and one 
of a family of three children. In jjolitics, the 
Doctor is a Republican. He has served on 
the town Republican committee, and has been 
candidate for Coroner. He has held a number 
of offices on the election board, among tliese 
being that of ballot clerk. In 1 89S he was 
elected Supervisor of the town of Wright, and 
in 1899 ^'^'^s re-elected for two \ears. Profes- 
sionally, he is a member of the Schoharie 
County Medical Society. He is a member of 
Orion Lodge, No. 624, Independent Order of 
Odd P'ellows; is Past Gi'and, and has been 
through all the other chairs. Mrs. Weidman 
is a member of the Presbyterian Church of 
Waterford. 




,0B1{RT ELLIOTT, whose death oc- 
curred on January 6, 1899, was for 
many years a representative citizen 
of Hunter, N. Y., being well known in the 
third quarter of the century as a general mer- 
chant, and later as the builder and proprietoi' 
of the Kaatsberg. He was of Scotch-Irish 
[larentagc, and was born on June 24, 1S22, in 



226 



BIOGRAI'IIICAI, RKVIF.W 



Irelant], where his fathei', whose name was 
Thomas, spent his entire lite engaged in agri- 
culture. 

Thomas Elliott and his family were stanch 
niemliers of the Presbyterian church, and he 
was an l^lder for many years. lie lived to be 
eighty )ears old. His vvife, Jane McLane 
Elliott, was of Scotch liescent, and one of a 
large family. She was the mother of the fol- 
lowing-named children: Robert; John, who 
lives in Kansas; Thomas, Jr., also in Kansas; 
Samuel, Harriet, and James, all three de- 
ceased; Helena and Jane, who are li\'ing in 
Ireland; and Adam, who went to Australia. 
James Elliott was educated f(jr the Presbyte- 
rian ministry at Belfast. He subsequently 
taught in Canada. 

Robert I'^lliott inherited from his parents 
those sterling c[ualities which e\'er character- 
ized his dealings, and which were such potent 
factors in shaping his successful business 
career. He was educated in the national 
schools of Ireland. At the early age of eight- 
teen years he took the place of a professor in 
one of those schools, and performed the duties 
of the position for six montlis in a high!)- cred- 
itable manner. At the cnil of that time he set 
sail for America. He soon obtained a posi- 
tion in a tannery, and after a short time he 
entered the employ of Mr. lulwards, wlio he- 
longed to the ]irominent llnnter famil}' of llial 
name, and who was descended from the Jona- 
than Edwards family of Massachusetts. Mr. 
Elliott ke])t books for Mr. Edwards until that 
gentleman died, and he then entered the em- 
plo}' of his brother, Colonel William W. 



Edwards, with whom he came to this town in 
1848. Colonel Edwards carried on a large 
tannery here, and Mr. Elliott had charge of 
the accounts of the concern until his enijjloyer 
went out of business. 

In 1853 Mr. I'^lliott opened a general store, 
and foi- the next t\vent)-five years he conducted 
a large antl successful business. At the end of 
that time he sold out, and later bought the lot 
upon which he erected the beautiful Kaatsberg. 
This fine house he built in 1883 — the finest 
house in Iluntei- village. He ran this as a 
summer boardingdiouse up to 1897, when he 
gave up the management to his son, Robert G. 
Elliott. All built under Mr. Elliott's super- 
vision, it is a monument to his thoroughness 
and is admired by every one. 

Ill 1855 Mr. Elliott married Mary A. Cald- 
well, a lady of Canadian birth. Of the six 
cliildren born of this union, four are living-; 
namely, Helena, Elmore V.., Clara, and Ro- 
bert G. Elmore E. , who is a piominent ph\- 
sician in Catskill, married l\Iabel .Sanderson, 
a daughter of Judge Sanderson, of Catskill, 
and has two sons — John .Sanderson and Robert 
Caldwell. Clara resides with her mother. 
Helena is the wife of Dr. C. P. McCabe, of 
Greenville. Of her tliree children one is liv- 
ing, a daughter Dorothy. 



I'RI'.MEMl DUXCKh:!., who resides on 
/^l his farm in the town of .Seward, about 
a mile from the \-illage of Ilyndsville 
in .Schoharie County, is living retired from 
acti\e pursuits, enjo}ing the fruits of his ear- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



227 



lier years of toil. He was born April 7, 
1 82 1, in Canajoharie, N. Y. , a son of George 
G. Dunckel, and -the descendant of a pioneer 
settler of that town. 

His <;reat-grandfather, Dunckel, whose name 
was Peter, emigrated from Germany in Colo- 
nial times. Peter Dunckel ttiok up a large 
tract of unbroken land in Canajoharie, and, 
erecting a small log cabin in the woods, settled 
there with his wife and children. He was an 
industrious, hard-working man, and while 
clearing a farm for himself he assisted in the 
upbuilding of the town. His son George, who 
was the grandfather of Jeremiah Dunckel, the 
subject of this brief sketch, enlisted as a sol- 
dier in the Revolutionary army, and at the 
battle of Cedar Swamp was unfortunate enough 
to lose an eye. 

George Dunckel was born in Germany, and 
spent the first ten years of his life in the 
Fatherland. Coming then to New York with 
his parents, he performed his full .share of the 
pioneer labor of redeeming a homestead from 
the forest. When, on the death of his father, 
the farm came into his possession, he continued 
the improvements already begun; and prior to 
his death, which occurred at the age of eigbty- 
four years, he had a fine set of frame buildings 
on the place, which was one of the best in its 
appointments of any in the neighborhood. 
Six children were born to him and his wife, 
Elizabeth Countryman. She, too, lived to an 
advanced age. Both were active members of 
the Lutheran church. 

George G. Dunckel, son of George, grew to 
manhood on the ancestral farm in Canajoharie, 



where from his youth up he was familiar with 
its daily labors. He subseciuently became sole 
owner of the homestead property, and was there 
prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits 
until 184S. Selling out at that time, he came 
to Seward, and, having purchased the farm now 
owned and occupied by his son Jeremiah, he 
carried it on until his decease, at the ase of 
seventy-seven years. A man of energy and in- 
telligence, he was a valued member of the 
Democratic party, and for a number of terms 
served wisely as Assessor and Highway Com- 
missioner. He was a Methodist in his relis- 
ions belief, and an active member of the 
church of that denomination. He married 
Maria Cook, daughter of John R. Cook, a 
farmer and blacksmith of Canajoharie. They 
had a family of eleven children, three of whom 
are now living, namely: Jeremiah, the fifth- 
born; Levi, who lives at Central Bridge; and 
Sophronia, widow of Austin Lory, late of 
Hyndsville. 

Jeremiah Dunckel obtained his early educa- 
tion in the common schools, and under the in- 
struction of his father became well versed in 
farming pursuits. When the family came to 
Seward he accompanied them, and, remaining 
an inmate of the household, assisted in the 
management of the new farm. This valuable 
estate of two hundred acres he now holds in 
his own name, having purchased the interest 
of the remaining heirs. In its care he has 
shown excellent judgment and skill. He has 
carried on general farming to advantage, devot- 
ing a part of the land to raising hops, a profita- 
ble crop in this section of the State, and has 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



also met with success as a dairymnii. lie has 
sometimes had as many as forty cows in his 
herd, and his butter has always met with a 
ready sale. Of recent years he has relegated 
the management of the estate to his eldest son, 
Lucius Dunckel. 

On October 5, 1843, Mr. Dunckel married 
Lana A., daughter of Sylvanus Nestle, a well- 
known tailor of Sprout Brook, N. Y. She died 
at the age of sixty-one years, having borne him 
four children. Of these two are dead, nameh' : 
Esther, who married Anson Ifynds; and Helen 
M., who married Irving Schoolcraft. The two 
now li\ing. are Lucius and George. Lucius, 
born April 6, 1846, has spent his life on the 
home farm, of which he has had full charge 
since 1S82. He is a Democrat in [lolitics 
and has served as school trustee. In iSfjghe 
marricfl Adelaide Lory, daughter of John 
Lory, of Seward. They have one child, Lottie 
Ann, who married Clark Bouton, Postmaster 
and merchant at Hyndsville, and has two chil- 
dren — Edna Belle and J. I.eroy. George, a 
resident of Cobleskill, married Angerilla I-'alk. 
They had five children: Jerry; Ann; Una and 
Ula, twins; and Oscar, who ilied at the age of 
nineteen years. After the death of his first 
wife, Mr. Dunckel married Henrietta Young, 
who was born in Seward township, where her 
father, Jeremiah Young, a farmer of Seward 
township, but a native of Onondaga County, 
died aged seventy years. Her mother, whose 
maiden name was Caroline E. Weatherwa.x, 
was born in Rensselaer County. She died in 
1892, aged eighty-one years, leaving seven 
children out of a family of ten born to her and 



her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Young were 
members of the Lutheran church. 

Mr. Dunckel is a stanch Jcffcrsonian Demo- 
crat, dyed in the wool. He has taken an ac- 
tive interest in advancing the welfare of the 
town and county, but has invariably refused 
]iublic office, although he has served as trustee 
of the School Board. He was one of the orig- 
inators of the Cobleskill Agricultural Society, 
and has been among its most active and valued 
members. Mrs. Dunckel is a member oi the 
Methodist clunxli. 



"s^YAMES B. DALEY, of Prattsville, at- 
torney -at- law and a Civil War vet- 
eran, was born in Ohio, townshi|i of 
Richfield, March 7, 1845, son of Daniel and 
Mary Ann (Champlin) Daley. His paternal 
grandfather, Joseph Daley, and his great- 
grandfather, Obadiah Daley, were lifelong 
residents of Columbia County, New York, 
and the latter was the son of Joseph Daley, 
first, who came from New England to Chat- 
ham, N. Y., where he cleared a farm. Josejih 
Daley, second, Mr. Daley's grandfather, was 
a prosperous farmer, and noted for his physi- 
cal strength and power of endurance. He 
married Hannah Son. Her father was an 
early settler in Columbia County, and she in- 
herited a part of the Son farm. The grand- 
parents died at the age of eighty years. They 
reared a large family of children, and none 
are now living 

Daniel Daley, James B. Daley's father, fol- 
lowed the blacksmith's trade in Chatham for 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



229 



a time, and moving from there to Lebanon 
Springs, N. Y., iie carried on the wagon-mak- 
ing business for some years, finally retiring 
to a farm in Chatham, where he died at the 
age of seventy-seven. He was widely known 
among Odd Fellows, having been a member of 
that order for many years; and he also had a 
large number of friends and acquaintances 
outside of that fraternity. His wife, Mary 
Ann, was born in Chatham, daughter of Will- 
iam and Mary (Kenyon) Champlin. Her 
father, who came to this State from Rhode 
Island, taught school in New York City prior 
to settling upon a farm in the town of Chat- 
ham. He had a family of six children. 
Daniel and Mary Ann Daley were the parents 
of ten children, si.\ of whom are living; 
namely, William C. , George, James B., 
Henry, Sarah, and Charles. William C. and 
George Daley are practising law in Chatham, 
and a sketch of each will be found in the Bio- 
GR.\PHic.\L Review of Columbia County. 
James B. is the subject of this sketch; Henry 
is a lawyer residing in Coxsackie, N.Y. ; 
Sarah is the widow of Nathan C. Hagerborn, 
late of Stillbrook, N.Y. ; and Charles is 
residing at the homestead in Chatham. 
The mother died at the age of seventy- 
two years. The parents were ]5aptists. 
They, were highly esteemed for their m.any 
excellent qualities, and obituary notices 
of each were published in the county news- 
papers. 

Having supplemented his common-school 
studies with a course at the Lebanon Springs 
Academy, James B. Daley turned his atten- 



tion to educational pursuits, teaching schools 
in Columbia and Rensselaer Counties, New 
York, and in Berkshire County, Massachu- 
setts. His law studies were pursued in the 
office of his brother George, and after his ad- 
mission to the bar in 1872, he began the prac- 
tice of his profession in Prattsville. In the 
spring of 1873 he returned to Chatham, where 
he was in business one year, at the end of 
which time he removed to Windham, Greene 
County, and for the succeeding eight years 
was a member of the firm of Daley & Tal- 
madge, who transacted an extensive general 
law and real estate business. After the dis- 
solution of that partnership he once more re- 
turned to Prattsville, where he has practised 
continuously to the present time. His Civil 
War services were performed in Company B, 
Ninety-first Regiment, New York Volunteers, 
with which he participated in a number of en- 
gagements, including the battle of Five 
Forks; and he witnessed the surrender of 
General Lee at Appomattox Court House. 

In June, 1S78, Mr. Daley was united in 
marriage with Lucy Tyler, who was born in 
Roxbury, Delaware County, daughter of Henry 
and Deborah (Hull) Tyler. Her father was 
a wealthy farmer. He eventually removed 
from Roxbury, his native town, to Pratts- 
ville, where he spent the rest of his life. 
Henry Tyler died at seventy-three, and his 
wife died at seventy. They reared three chil- 
dren: Lorinda, who married John Erkson, a 
leading merchant of Prattsville; Lucy, who 
married Mr. Daley; and Annie, who married 
Homer B. Van Cott, of Norwich, N.Y. Mrs. 



23° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Daley was a graduate of the I'ort Edwards 
Institute, and prior to her marriage she taught 
music at the institute in EUenville. She 
died in 1S96, aged forty-six years. As a 
member of the Methodist liipiscopul church 
she took an active interest in religious work, 
and was sincerely respected for her estimable 
character and rare intellectual qualities. She 
left four children; namely, Mamie, lunma, 
Ethel, and James, aged respectively si.xteen, 
fourteen, twelve, and ten years. 

Politically, Mr. Daley is a Republican. 
He has served with ability as a trustee of the 
village and of the Cemetery Association for a 
number of years, and acts as a notary public. 
His literary talents are highly appreciated in 
I'rattsville and vicinity, and his frequent con- 
triiiutions to the various county papers upon 
different subjects are widely read. His more 
notable writings are: a series of articles de- 
scribing his war experience, published in the 
Catskill Exaviincr ; another series devoted to 
Western life, printed in the Hunter Pliamix, 
and a number of articles upon legal sid^jects, 
which have been bountl with the law journal 
for preservation. Mr. Daley attends the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 




"ON. JOHN A. (iRISWOLD, of Cats- 
kill, N. Y., e.x-Congressman and 
former Judge and Surrogate of 
Greene County, was born in Cairo, tiiis 
county, November iS, 1822, son of Stephen 
II. and I'hcebe (Ashley) Criswold. He is a 
representative of the GriswuUI family ot Con- 



necticut, an account of whom ajipeared in tlie 
]\[agazinc of American History in 1S84. His 
father was born in Greene County, New 
York, February 26, 1793; and his grandfather, 
Jeremiah Griswold, came to Catskill from 
Connecticut about the _\ ear 1800, accompanied 
by his family. 

Jeremiah (iriswold, who was a prosperous 
farmer, lived to an advanced age. He married 
Mary Hill, whose birth took jilace either in 
Massachusetts or Connecticut in December, 
1753. She served the patricjt cause during the 
Re\iilut iimary War b\' making cartridges for 
her brothers. She dieil December 8, 1841. 

Stephen II. (iriswold, Judge Griswold's 
father, studied law, but did not enter into 
practice, preferring instead to engage in agri- 
cultural ]>ursuits. He owned a good farm in 
Cairo, where he resided until his death, whicli 
occurred June 14, 1844. As a stanch sujiporter 
of the Democratic party he took an active in- 
terest in the political affairs of his day, and 
was universall)' esteemed for his upright char- 
acter. He was a Free Mason, and in his 
younger days ■ was identified with the local 
Hlue I-odge. He and his wife, Phcx^be, were 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Mrs. Griswold was a native of Cat.skill, where 
her father, John .Asiiley, was an industrious 
farmer. She became the mother of ten chil- 
ilren, five of whom are living, namely: John 
A., the subject of this sketch; Miles, who re- 
sides in one of the Western States; Addison, 
a well-known law)-er of Catskill ; Alonzo, who 
is residing <jn a farm in Jesuji, la. ; and Mar- 
ion, who is a banker in Ohio. The others 




JOHN A. GRISWOLD. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



233 



were: Mary, Stephen, luiiily, Jerome, and 
Mahala. Stephen, who entered the Union 
army as a surgeon early in the Civil War, was 
captured by the enemy at the first battle of 
Bull Riu), and died in prison. Jerome, who 
was a druggist in Kansas, was i<illed by Con- 
federate raiders under Ouantrell. Judge Gris- 
wold's mother died June 13, 1^77, aged 
seventy-two years. 

Having pursued his preliminary studies in 
the public schools, John A. Griswold became 
a pupil at the academies in Prattsville and 
Catskill, concluding his attendance at the lat- 
ter at the age of sixteen. After teaching for 
a time, he applied himself to the study of law 
with his uncle, Addison C. Griswold, and 
Richard Corning, the latter a brother of Eras- 
tus Corning, of Albany. Subsequently he 
continued his prejiarations in Syracuse, N.Y. , 
and was admitted to the bar as an attorney and 
counsellor of the State in 1848. Commencing 
the practice of his profession alone, he was 
later associated with Addison Griswold until 
elected District Attorney in 1857, and afterward 
he was for some time in company with Rufus 
W. Watson. He ably performed the duties of 
District Attorney for three years, winning in 
that capacity a high reputation; and his able 
handling of several important cases, both as a 
public and private practitioner, caused his ele- 
vation in 1864 to the position of Judge and 
Surrogate of Greene County. His four years' 
service upon the bench was extremely credita- 
ble to himself as well as beneficial to the com- 
niunit}-; and in 1868 he was elected to a seat 
in Congress by the Democratic party, defeat- 



ing Thomas Cornell, of Rondout, by a major- 
ity of five hundred votes. His work in the 
national House of Representatives was charac- 
terized by a thorough understanding of the 
principles of federal government and a clear 
conception of the many important questions 
submitted for legislation; and, when a conven- 
tion was decided upon for the purpose of revis- 
ing the Constitution of the State of New York, 
he was again called into service as a delegate 
from his district. In 1876 he was a delegate 
to the National Con\-ention which nominated 
Samuel J. Tilden for President. He has also 
rendered his share of service in town affairs, 
serving as a Supervisor in 1872; and his inter- 
est in the welfare of the community in which 
he lives was not eclipsed by the higher 
public duties to which he has been called. 

In 1857 Judge Griswold married Miss Eliza- 
beth M. Roberts, a daughter of the late Will- 
iam Roberts, who was a prosperous farmer of 
Cliftondale, Ulster County, this State. Mrs. 
Grisw^old died No\-ember 8, 1896, aged sixty- 
six years. Judge Griswold resides in what is 
known as the Cornwall house, situated on an 
estate commanding a view for twenty miles 
around of the varied and picturesque scenery 
for which the Catskill region is noted. He 
has survived all of his former legal contempo- 
raries in this section, but is still upon the 
acti\-c list; and, if not as young in years as his 
personal appearance would indicate, his mental 
capacity retains its accustomed vigor, and his 
strong, manly character is as much appreciated 
to-day as it was during the period of his public 
services. He is a Master Mason, and was for- 



234 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




merly a member of the Catskill Lodge, No. 
46S. In his religious belief he is an Epis- 
copalian. 

ILLARD T. RIVENBURG, M.D., 

a well-known medical practitioner 
of Midilleburg, N.Y., was born in the village 
of Chatham in Ghent, Columbia County, this 
State, on November 25, 1S63, son of J. Mor- 
gan and Charlotte (Tipple) Rivenburg. As 
his name indicates, he is of Dutch ancestry, 
although his family has Ijcen settled in New 
York for many years. 

His grandfather, Henry Rivenburg, was 
born in Columbia County, and there spent his 
entire life. He helped in clearing a part of 
the farm which he occupied and carried on. 
The Doctor's father was an agriculturist, and 
was a man highly respected in his town. He 
was killed by the cars at the age of thirty- 
seven. His wife, who was born in Otsego 
Comity, was descendeil from Revolutionary 
stock. She was also related to Walter Gunn, 
who with his wife was in the mission field in 
huiia, under the auspices of the Lutheran 
church. 15oth parents were members of the 
Reformed church at Ghent. Of tlieir three 
children, two grew to maturity. These are 
the Doctor and John Rivenburg, Superintend- 
ent of Poor for Columbia County and a coal 
dealer at Ghent. 

Dr. Rivenburg was educated at the Hoys' 
Academy, Troy, the South Berkshire Insti- 
tute, Mass., and the University of Buffalo, 
from the last named of which he received the 
degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1S85. 



While in college he was president of the 
Alpha Omega Delta Society, and his society 
sheepskin bears his own official signature as 
such. He was the founder of the college so- 
ciety known as the "Secret Seven." Dr. 
Rivenburg first settled for practice at Blen- 
heim, but after a short stay there he came, in 
18S7, to Middleburg, where he has won a po- 
sition of influence. He covers a wide area in 
his professional visits, and receives calls for 
consultation from physicians residing twenty- 
five miles distant. 

The Doctor was married on October 14, 
icSgi, to Belle Stanton, a graduate of the Al- 
bany Female Academy and a daughter of John 
Stanton, who was a merchant, and later rail- 
road station agent of this town. She was 
born on the homstead of her grandmother, not 
far from here, and is descended from one of 
the oldest and most honored families in this 
region. Among her ancestors was brave Gen- 
eral James Dana, who was immortalized by 
Washington in his first general order immedi- 
ately following the battle of Banker Hill, 
where Dana, then Captain, commanded a 
company of the Connecticut line of Conti- 
nental troops. 

Dr. Riveni)urg is a jihysician of the county 
almshouse. He has served as president and 
vice-president of the Medical Society of Scho- 
harie County, and is now medical examiner 
for several well-known insurance companies, 
chief of which are the Mutual Life of New 
York, the North-western, the Penn, llie Brook- 
lyn, the Nederland, the Manhattan, the 
Bankers', and tiie United States Accident. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



235 



In 1886 he took a post-graduate course at 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 
New York. He is a charter member of the 
John M. Scribner Hook and Ladder Company, 
and for five years was in active service, since 
which time he has been on the reserve list. 
Fraternally, he is Master of Middleburg Lodge, 
No. 663, F. & A. M. ; and Past Sachem of 
Oucongena Tribe, No. 240, I. O. R. M. He is 
treasurer of the Village Corporation; also a 
trustee of St. Mark's Plvangelical Lutheran 
church, and assistant superintendent of the 
Sunday-school. 



M 



ANIEL W. JP:NKINS, agent of the 
D. & H. Railroad at Central 
Bridge, Schoharie County, N. Y., 
was born in Glen, Montgomery County, on 
September 27, 1846, son of Nathaniel and 
Eleanor (Shannon) Jenkins. His great- 
grandfather Jenkins, who was a Welshman by 
birth, came to this country and settled on 
Long Island, where he died. At the time the 
British invaded the island he was made a pris- 
oner of war. After the close of the Revolu- 
tion the family removed to Duanesburg, Sche- 
nectady County, this State. William, one of 
the sons and grandfather of Daniel W. Jen- 
kins, was born on Long Island, but spent the 
last years of his life in Montgomery County, 
where he died in old age. 

Nathaniel Jenkins, son of William by his 
second wife, was born in Montgomery. He 
was reared on a farm, and received his educa- 
tion in the public schools. He was one of a 



large family of children, only two of whom 
are now living, both physicians and promi- 
nent in their professions — namely, Thomas, 
residing at Vandalia, and George, at Kilbourn 
City, Wis. Nathaniel was very successful in 
his farming, and was highly respected by all 
who knew him. He died at the age of eighty- 
two. His wife, Eleanor, who died at the age 
of eighty, was born in Prattsville. Both were 
members of the Society of Friends. 

Daniel W. Jenkins received a practical 
common-school education, and on September 
I 5, 1863, at the age of seventeen years, entered 
the employ of the Albany & Susquehanna 
Railroad Company. This road has since be- 
come a part of the D. & H. C. Company sys- 
tem. Mr. Jenkins's father was agent at 
Quaker Street (now Delanson), and at that 
time the equipments of the ticket office were 
carried in a tin box, and the way bills were 
made out on a board that was set up in 
the embankment. The road then ended at the 
Schoharie Creek, near the present Schoharie 
Junction. Mr. Jenkins has since seen it ad- 
vanced all the distance to Binghamton. There 
was only one train per day, as against fifty 
per day at the present time, and most of the 
modern improvements have been added since 
then. Mr. Jenkins succeeded his father as 
agent at Quaker Street, and in 1868 became 
the agent at Central Bridge, where he has 
since remained. He has now two assistants. 
He is the youngest of seven children, the 
others being: De Witt C, at Syracuse; Zerah 
and William A., at Delanson; Mrs. Lottie 
Christman, of Iowa; Mrs. Colonel Coryell, 



236 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



whose husband is an cx-paymastcr of the 
D. & H. Road; and Mrs. M. S. Hoag, of Al- 
bany. In addition to his duties as station 
agent, Mr. Jenkins does a large business in 
hamlling coal, lumber, hay, and straw. 

As a business man Mr. Jenkins is known as 
a "hustler." Whatever he finds to do he 
does witli all his might, and, as a rule, suc- 
cessfully. Recognizing iiis su|)erior business 
tpialifications, the ]5oard of Trustees of the 
Schoharie County Agricultural Society elected 
him president of the society, which position 
he has held for the past eight or ten years. 
As a representative of this organization he 
has been one of the leading spirits in the 
State organization of county societies, serving 
on the E.xecutive Committee; and for the past 
few years he has been vice-president of the so- 
ciety, frequently visiting Albany during the 
legislative sessions in the interests of agri- 
cultural societies generally. 

In politics Mr. Jenkins is a stanch Demo- 
crat, and has frequently attended county and 
State conventions as a representative of his 
party. In the winter of 1889 he accepted the 
nomination for Supervisor of the town of 
Schoharie. At the succeeding town meeting 
he was elected, and he has served tlie town 
continuously since then as Supervisor, having 
been elected three times without opposition. 
He was chairman of the board for the years 
1893, 1896, and 1897, and at the spring meet- 
ing held May 2, 1899, was again honored by 
being unanimously elected chairman for the 
ensuing two years. As Supervisor he has 
exerted a powerful influence. He was largely 



instrumental in effecting a settlement of the 
suits brought against the county by several 
towns of the county (including the town of 
Schoharie), when the law went into effect re- 
quiring the amount raised by ta.xation of the 
railroads in towns having a bonded railroad 
debt to be deposited with the county treas- 
urer as a sinking fund with which to meet the 
bonds when due. In this settlement the town 
of Schoharie received its full share — in fact, 
more than she had reason to e.xpect. As a 
member of the county board he has looked 
carefully after the interests of the county, be- 
lieving liberality without extravagance in the 
care of county pro[)erty to be a benefit in the 
long run, and firmly advocating the policy of 
the county paying its debts instead of paying 
interest on old claims. He is always fore- 
most in any movement which contemplates 
the interests of his town, and more than once 
has contributed of his means for such a pur- 
pose. 

On September 9, 1869, Mr.' Jenkins was 
united in marriage with Harriet L. Rosekrans, 
daughter of Charles Rosekrans, of Jonesville, 
Saratoga County. 

Mr. Jenkins is identified with tlie order of 
Masonry, being a thirty-second degree Mason; 
and he has many social ties in Schoharie 
County. He belongs to Schoharie Valley 
Lodge, No. 491 ; John L. Lewis Chapter of 
Cobleskill; Temple Commandery of Albany, 
a noted commandery in the State; to De Witt 
Clinton Council of Albany; and to Cypress 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of the same 
city. He is also a member of Wellington 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



237 



Lodge, No. 731, L O. O. F., of Central 
Bridge. He is an attendant and liberal sup- 
porter of the Lutheran church. 



T^HARLES FOWLER, proprietor of 
I Jl the Fowler House, Prattsville, was 

^*- ' born in Lexington, Greene County, 

N.Y., September 15, 1845, son of David S. 
and Agnes (Muir) Fowler. 

The Fowler family is of English origin. 
There were several immigrants of this name 
in New England in early Colonial times. It 
is said that William Fowler, who arrived in 
Boston in June, 1637, and the next year went 
to New Haven, was the ancestor of most, if 
not all, of the Fowlers, of Connecticut. 

Silas Fowler, great-grandfather of Charles 
Fowler, was a native of Connecticut. After 
his marriage he came to New York .State, and 
settling in I^exington, now Jewett, resided 
there until his death, which occurred at the 
age of eighty-four years. He was a Revolu- 
tionary soldier from this State, and a memento 
of his services in the shape of a flint-lock gun 
taken by him at the battle of Bunker Hill is 
now owned by his grandson, Addison Fowier, 
of Lexington, N. Y. He reared a family of 
eiglit children. 

Silas Fowler, second, Charles Fowler's 
grandfather, was three years old when his par- 
ents moved to Lexington. He remained at the 
homestead until after his marriage, when he 
purchased a farm near by, and tilled the soil 
industriously for the rest of his life. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Mc- 



Lane, is a native of Livingston, N.Y., a 
daughter of George McLane. Her father fol- 
lowed the shoemaker's trade in connection 
with farming. She became the mother of 
nine children; namely, Charles, Rachel, 
David S., Louise, Elizabeth, Minerva, Silas, 
Addison, and Julia. Charles, Rachel, and 
Silas are no longer living. Elizabeth mar- 
ried Addison De Yoe. Minerva married 
Henry Moore, of Milford, Michigan. Silas 
Fowler, second, died at the age of seventy- 
four years, and his wife lived to be ninety-six 
years old. They were both members of the 
Dutch Reformed church. 

David S. Fowler, Charles Fowler's father, 
was born in Lexington, February 24, 181 8. 
Beginning life for himself upon a leased farm, 
which he afterward purchased, he resided in 
his native town until 1875. He then removed 
to Prattsville, where he bought a farm and 
carried it on for two years, at the end of 
which time he retired and purchased a resi- 
dence in the village where he is still living. 
Mr. Fowler, who is unusually active, both 
physically and mentally, for one of his years, 
remembers when deer roamed fearlessly over 
the town of Lexington. He has witnessed 
the growth of Prattsville from a struggling 
little settlement, and saw its founder, Colo- 
nel Pratt, set out many of the shade trees that 
now adorn its main thoroughfare. He was in 
his younger days interested in military affairs, 
serving as an officer in a local artillery com- 
pany. He has a distinct recollection of the 
days when slavery was permitted in tliis sec- 
tion. Later he belonged to the famous 



238 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Know-Nothing party. He has voted the 
straight Domocratic ticket for sixty years. 
David S. Fowler contracted the first of his 
two marriages in 1841 with Agnes Miiir, a 
native of Scotland, who died in 1873; and for 
his second wife he married Laura Goodsell, 
whose ancestors came from Connecticut. He 
is the father of three cliildren, all by his first 
union; namely, Mary, Charles, and Agnes. 
Mary married A. Bockwith, a prosperous 
farmer of Lexington. They have one daugh- 
ter, Ada, who is the wife of George Raeder, 
antl has one son, Charles. Agnes married 
Alonzo Johnson, of Lexington, and her chil- 
dren are: Charles, May, and Willie. 

Charles Fowler acquired a common-school 
education in his native town. He was reared 
to agricultural pursuits, and assisted his 
father in carrying on the homestead farm until 
the latter's removal to Prattsville, when he 
took charge of the i)roperty which he managed 
for five years, or until it was sold. Coming 
to Prattsville in 1880, he in March of that 
year bought a half-interest in the Prattsville 
House, in the management of which he was 
associated until July, i88j, when he sold out. 
He immediately purchased his present prop- 
erty, which, after repairing and refurnisliing, 
he opened as the P'owler House. Here he has 
ever since entertained the travelling public in 
a most hospitable manner. The Prowler 
House jjrovides ample accommotlations for 
fifty guests. It occupies a sightly location 
on the banks of Schoharie Creek, in a region 
noted for its beautiful and varied scenery. 
Its sanitary and other conveniences for the 



health aiul comfort of its patrons are unsur- 
passed, and a first-class livery stable con- 
nected with the house affords excellent facili- 
ties tor driving over the surrounding country. 

In 1 87 1 Mr. Fowler was joined in marriage 
with Mary Coggshall, of this town. She was 
born in Rensselaerville, daughter of Asa and 
Mary (Joyce) Coggshall, tlie former of whom 
was a native of Gildcrlaml and a schoolmaster 
by occupation. Asa antl Mary Coggshall had 
a family of ten children, nine of whom are 
living; namely, Harvey, George, Origen, 
Sarah, Samuel, Asa, Mary, Julia, and Aletta. 
Sarah married E. P. Churciiill, of Prattsville, 
and Aletta married U wight Miller. Mr. and 
Mrs. Prowler have one daughter, Edith, who 
completed her education at the Stamford 
Seminary. 

In politics Mr. ]<"owler is a Democrat. 
Though freqLiently solicited to become a can- 
didate for public office, he invariably de- 
clines. Mrs. P'owler and her daughter are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 




^RS. JULIA A. WILSON, one of 
the best known temperance workers 
^ in Jefferson, Schoharie County, 
N.V., was born in this town in January, 
1828, daughter of John and Laura (Hamilton) 
Nichols. She is of New P2ngland ancestry on 
both sides. Her great-grandfather Nichols, 
whose name was Daniel, was a resident of 
Western Massachusetts. Her grandfather, 
Ezra Nichols, came to New York from Will- 
iamstown, Mass., settled as a jjioneerat North 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



239 



Harpersnekl, Delaware County, N. Y., and 
through energy and perseverance became the 
owner of a good farm containing about two 
hundred acres. He resided in that town for 
the rest of his life. Ezra Nichols married 
Elizabeth Knapp, of Dan bury, Conn., and his 
children were: Daniel, John, Clemon, Eli, 
Sarah, and Chloe. Daniel died in Harpers- 
field; Clemon died in Jefferson, at the age of 
ninety-four years ; Eli died in Madison, Ohio; 
Sarah became Mrs. Knapp; and Chloe became 
Mrs. Di.xon. 

John Nichols, Mrs. Wilson's father, was 
born on April i8, 1787, and was five years old 
when his parents removed to Delaware 
County. During his early years he resided 
for a while in Dutchess County. He settled 
in Jefferson in 1818, having resided with his 
father for some time previous to coming here. 
When his farm was ready for permanent occu- 
pancy he went to Connecticut for his bride, 
with whom he began life in a new house and 
on a new farm. His industry and thrift 
enabled him to accumulate a large amount of 
property, and this he divided among his chil- 
dren, his real estate alone amounting to twelve 
hundred acres. John Nichols lived to be 
ninety-five years old. He was fontl of read- 
ing, and was a good mathematician. He also 
possessed considerable musical ability, and 
taught a singing-school in his neighborhood 
for a number of years. Charitable and affec- 
tionate in his disposition, he was considerate 
of the feelings of others. His firm belief in 
the immortality of the soul was the result of 
long anil patient study of the Bible. In poli- 



tics he was a Republican. His wife, Laura, 
who was a native of Danbury, Conn., became 
the mother of seven children, namely: Susan, 
born in 1822; Franklin, born in 1824; 
Wesley, born in 1S26; Julia A., the subject 
of this sketch, born in January, 1828; Clara 
E., born in T832; Cynthia L., born in 1834; 
and George H., born in 1S36. Susan, who 
died in 1845, was the wife of Joseph Hallen- 
beck, a farmer. Franklin, who settled as a 
farmer in Altona, Knox County, 111., married 
Margaret Multer. Their children are: Wal- 
ter, now residing at the old homestead in 
Altona, 111.; George, a farmer of Summit, 
N.Y. ; Nathan and Irving, who live in Illi- 
nois. Wesley died in 1834. Clara E., who 
is a graduate of Musicdale Seminary, Salem, 
Conn., and was for some time engaged as a 
teacher of music at Level Green Institute, 
near -Suffolk, Va., and at Goldsboro College, 
N.C., was married in 1857 to the Rev. John 
O. Evans, of Harpersfield, N.Y. Mrs. I-Lvans 
has two children, Thomas D. anrl l'"lorine, 
both of whom possess remarkable musical 
talent. Mr. Evans died in 1895 at Earned, 
Kan. Cynthia L. Nichols, who is unmarried, 
resides in Jefferson. George H. married 
Maria Titus, and has three children — John, 
Clara E., and Fred, all of whom are married. 

Julia A., now Mrs. Wilson, was graduated 
from the New York Conference Seminary, 
Charlotteville, in 1852. She studied paint- 
ing in Cobleskill, N. Y., and, having com- 
pletetl her preparations for educational work, 
she went to .Suffolk, Va., where she taught 
painting at a young ladies' seminary, and was 



2^0 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



at one time its principal. Slie afterward 
taught French and mathematics at the Golds- 
boro (N.C.) College, remaining,' there until 
compelled by failing health to return North, 
when she relinquished her work with reluc- 
tance. She married Henry Wilson in 1855, 
and has resided in Jefferson continuously to 
the present time. She has had two children, 
neither of whom is living. Mrs. Wilson is 
one of the most active members of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Jef- 
ferson, having served as recording secretary 
and as corresponding secretary, also as a dele- 
gate to several State and county conventions. 
She is a charter member of the local lodge. 
Independent Order of Good Templars, in 
which she is a Past Vice-Templar, and is its 
treasurer at the present time. She belongs 
to the Patrons of Husbandry, and is Chaplain 
of the local grange. Mrs. Wilson is an active 
member of the Presbyterian church, and for 
years has devoted a great deal of her time to 
Sunday-school and other religious work. 




ILLly\M LAUDER CAMPBICLL, 
Chief of Police, Schenectady, N.Y., 
was born near (-atehouse, Kirkcudlirightshire, 
Scotland, February 2, 1S44, son of William 
and Susan (Lauder) Campbell. The family for 
many preceding generations consisted of indus- 
trious farming people, and some of its repre- 
sentatives were overseers on large estates. The 
grandfather, also named William Campbell, 
was a native of Pertiishire, and sijent tlie 
^'.greater part of his life as a farm overseer in 



Kirkcudbrightshire, in the south of Scotland. 
He married a Miss Campbell, who, though not 
a near relative, belonged to Clan Campbell, 
and in all proliability was a descendant of the 
same stock. The grandparents reared four 
sons and four daughters. Two of the latter 
married well-to-do husbands, and were left 
widows with means. Coming to America with 
their children in 1855, they purchased fine 
farms in Prcscott, Canada, ojiposite Ogdens- 
burg, N.Y. , and became ailliicnt. One was 
the widow of William Plack, and the other of 
David McKinnon. 

In 1857 William Campbell, the father of 
William Lauder, sailed from Wigton with his 
wife and six of his chihh'en, for Liverpool, 
where he embarked for the United -States on 
board the ship "William Tapscott, " Captain 
William Bell. Arriving at New York, August 
17, 1858, after an eight weeks" passage, they 
were met at Castle Garden by two other mem- 
bers of their family, James and Mary, who had 
preceded them a year before. The parents set- 
tled first at Hay Side, Long Island. They had 
ten children, two of wdinm died in Scotland; 
and Charles, aged nine, and Robert, aged one 
year and si.x months, died of scarlet fever while 
on the passage over, and were buried at sea. 
The li\ing are: James, a farmer and landscajie 
gardener, who married a Miss Palmer, and re- 
sides at Hartford, Conn. ; Mary, who married 
John Dillen, a farmer, and resides at Choji- 
tauk, Caroline County, Md. ; William L. , the 
subject of this sketci) ; Susan, who niairied 
Robert llemmens, an Englishman, and a 
moulder by trade, residing in .Schenectad}' ; 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



241 



Jessie, wife of James Myers, a contractor 
and builder at Schenectady, N. Y. ; and Mar- 
garet, who is the widow of James Mac- 
gregor, late Paymaster's Clerk in the United 
States navy, is now living in Baltimore, Md. , 
and has one daughter. James Campbell, who 
is now residing at Hartford, Conn., was super- 
vising agent and landscape gardener for the 
Morgans of New Vork for seventeen years, and 
was employed in the same capacity by the 
Garrctts of Baltimore, Md. , having charge of 
their entire estate, amounting to three thou- 
sand acres, with several assistant superintend- 
ents under him. The father died in 1894, 
aged nearly eighty-three years, surviving the 
mother, who died in 1S90, aged seventy-seven. 
William L. Campbell obtained his elemen- 
tary education in Scotland, where (as well as 
in the United States, after his arrival here) he 
attended both the day and night schools. Hav- 
ing acquired a good knowledge of landscape 
gardening from his father, and receiving from 
the latter his full liberty some years previous to 
his majority, he entered the employ of Andrew 
Boardman, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he re- 
mained seven years, supervising the laying out 
of that gentleman's gardens, roads, lawns, and 
pleasui"c-grounds, having previously attended 
school and worked with his father, at P'lushing, 
Long Island. lie followed landscape garden- 
ing until joining the Schenectady police force 
in 1869, and during his residence in Poughkeep- 
sie he drove the first stake in laying out the 
grounds of Vassar College. From his boy- 
hood he has taken a lively inteicst in out-door 
games, and he was known in his youth as a 



good all-around athlete. Coming to Schenec- 
tady in 1868 solely for the purpose of attend- 
ing a supper given by the St. Andrew's Soci- 
ety, he was induced to locate here, and on Au- 
gust 3, 1869, was appointed a patrolman on 
the capitol police force in this city. That 
body was disbanded eleven months afterward, 
and going to Saratoga he was for the succeed- 
ing three months in charge of a force whose 
duty it was to [latrol the streets and watch 
pi'ivate propert)', he having been the first uni- 
formed police officer to do duty in that village. 
Returning to this city after spending the sum- 
mer months in Saratoga, he again in Septem- 
ber, 1870, joined the regular Schenectady 
police force as a patrolman ; was advanced on 
June I, 1872, to the position of assistant to 
Charles H. Willard, whom he succeeded as 
chief on July 6 of the same year. He has 
held that office ever since, a period of twenty- 
seven years, having acted chief from Jul}- 6 
to December 3, 1872, when he received reg- 
ular appointment — longer than that of any 
other chief or superintendent of police in the 
State of New York, and, as far as known, in 
the United States. 

On January 10, 1872, Mr. Campbell was 
joined in marriage with Harriet S. Orr, of 
Saratoga, N. Y. They have had two sons, one 
of them, Bertie, died at the age of one year. 
William Alexander Campbell, who was grad- 
uated from Union University in 1897, and after 
studying law at the law school of the same 
university, where he graduated June 26, 1899, 
and was admitted to the bar July 13, 1S99, 
is, lii<e his father and grandfather, unusually 



243 



BIOflRAPMICAT, RF.VIF.W 



well-developed physically. He is ])roficieiit 
in athletic sports, and a champion bicycle rider 
anil lawn tennis player. 

Mr. Campbell belongs to the Masonic Order, 
the I^lks, the Knights of I'ythias, and the ]'"or- 
esters. 

In his report as chief of police of the city of 
Schenectady for the year ending November 30, 
1898 — an interesting and valuable document, 
betokening a clear head and an earnest pur- 
pose — Mr. Campbell recommends that the 
[jciial ordinances, so far as they relate to peace 
and good order, together with the sanitary rules 
and regulations of the city, be printed in 
pamphlet form the size of a pocket diary and 
placed in the hands of the newsdealers for 
sale; that police officers and city officials be 
pro\ided with copies; and that ])upils in the 
schools should be instructed as to their duties 
in observing ordinances. lie would have even 
the smallest child thus led to see that a 
policeman is his servant and not his master. 
h'ollnwiiiL; the adoption of this plan, he sagcl\' 
thinks that "another genei'ation would see the 
number of policemen in cities reduced to one- 
half the ratio ]icr thousand inhabitant now 
employed, and in this way our citizens woultl 
become more nearly self-governing." 




\CA;/ II.LLAM II. AL15RO, of Middle- 
j-*^»' burg, Schoharie County, N.\'., is 
of iMiglish, Welsh, and Holland ancestr)'. On 
the ])atenral side he is a descendant of John 
Albro, who was horn in .'Mdhoro, I'^ngland, in 



1617, and who married in 1C47 Doratha Potter, 
widow of Nathaniel Potter. 

In 1634, at the age of seventeen years, John 
.■\lbro embarked in the ship "Francis" from 
Ipswich, England, for Boston. In 1638 he 
went with William I'reeborn to Portsmouth, 
R.I. In 1639 certain lands at Portsmouth, 
R. I., were granted to said John Albro and 
others, by the king of iMigland, on centlition 
that they build upon those lands within 
one year — which they did. And upon the 
lands thus acquired John Albro and his 
descendants lived for nearly two hundred 
years. In 1644 this John Albro was a Cor- 
poral in the Colonial militia, rising succes- 
sively in after \ears to be Lieutenant, Cap- 
tain, and Major. In 1649 he was chosen to 
view cattle, to he clerk of weights and meas- 
ures, and member of Town Council. In 1660 
and 1661 he was a commissioner, and member 
of a committee to receive contributions for 
agents in ICngland. In 1666 he was aijpointed 
with two other persons to take areas of high- 
ways and driftways not set off. In 1670, with 
three other persons, he loaned the colony of 
Rhode Island seven pounds on account of the 
town of Portsmouth. I'Vom 1671 to 1686, 
with the exception of a few years in the seven- 
ties, he was an Assistant, a town officer. In 
1676 he with three other persons was ap- 
pointed a committee for the care and disposal 
of i)Owdcr for the supply of Portsmouth. He 
was also a commissioner to order watch and 
ward of the island. This was during King 
Philip's War. He was also a member of the 
coLUt-marlial at Newjjort to try certain Ind- 




WILLIAM HENRY ALBRU. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 



245 



ians. In 1677 he was a member of a commit- 
tee in the matter of injurious and illegal acts 
of Connecticut. In 1679 he was one of the 
members of a committee to draw up a letter to 
the king of England, giving an account of the 
territory of Mount Hope and of their late war 
with the Indians. He was also appointed with 
one other person a committee to lay out the 
western boundary line of the colony. In 16S5 
he, Major John Albro, Assistant and Coroner, 
summoned a jury in the case of an Indian 
found dead on clay-])it lands. The verdict of 
the jury was "That the said Indian being 
much distempered with drink, was bewildered, 
and by the extremity of the cold he lost his 
life." In 1686 he was a member of Sir Ed- 
mund Andros's Council, and was present at 
their first meeting at Boston, December 30, 
1686. In 1697 he was allowed twenty shill- 
ings for his expenses for going to Boston. He 
died December 14, 17 12. His will, dated 
December 28, 1710, was proved in 1713. By 
it he divided a considerable amount of real and 
personal property among his sons and daugh- 
ters and their children. He was buried in his 
own orchard. His children were: Samuel, 
Elizabeth, Mary, John, and Susannah. 

John Albro, second, who is in the direct 
line of descent to the subject of this sketch, 
marrieil Mary Stokes, April 27, 1693. In 
1677 he and others granted five thousand 
acres of land to be called East Greenwich, 
upon which land so granted stands the present 
town of PZast Greenwich, R.I. He died De- 
cember 4, 1724. His son, John Albro, third, 
whi) was bnrn August 23, 1694, married Ruth 



Lawton, November 25, 1725. He had a son 
John, fourth, sometimes called Jonathan, who 
was born January 2, 1734, and married Sarah 
Taber, October 21, 1759. This fourth John 
y\lbro was a private in Captain Benjamin 
West's company. Colonel John Topham's regi- 
ment of Rhode Island troops, during the Revo- 
lutionary War, from March 16, 1778, to Feb- 
ruary 20, 1779. John, fourth (or, as he was 
more commonly called, Jonathan) Albro, had a 
son Isaac, who was born at Portsmouth, R. I., 
September 3, 1765. Isaac Albro married 
Sarah Bliss, whose ancestors were English and 
Welsh. She was a daughter of William Bliss, 
whose father, Josiah Bliss, was the son of 
John and Damaris (Arnold) Bliss, the latter 
a daughter of Benedict Arnold, who was one of 
Rhode Island's earliest and best governors. 
John Bliss was an Ensign in the Continental 
Army in 1667, also a Deputy. In 1696 he was 
a Major for Rhode Island. Governor Arnold, 
his wife's father, built as a wind-mill for 
grinding grain, it is now said, the Old Stone 
Tower, which for a great many years has been 
one of Newport's greatest curiosities to visi- 
tors, and which for a long time was supposed 
to have been built by the Northmen, or Norse- 
men, who landed on the coast of New England 
before the discovery of America by Columbus. 
About the year 1800 Isaac Albro and family 
moved from Portsmouth, R. I. , where for 
nearly two centuries his ancestors had lived, to 
the town of Berne, Albany County, N. V. 
Aiiout the year 1785 John Bliss, who was a 
brother of Sarah Bliss, wife of Isaac Albro, 
removed from Portsmoutii to Greenfield, Sara- 



246 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



toga Coiint\', N. V. , seven miles from Saratoga 
Sprin,i;s. In the month of February, 1801, 
John 151iss walketl all the way from his home 
in firecniiekl, Saratoga County, N. Y. , to 
Ne\v|)(]rt, R. I., to sulnnil to the ordinance of 
baptism. John Bliss had twelve sons and four 
daughters. One of the sons, Isaac Bliss, was 
the father of P. P. Bliss, the author of the 
Gospel Hymns, and a singer and musical com- 
poser of world-wide reputation, who met a \mo- 
lent death December 29, 1876, by a railroad 
accident at Ashtabula, Ohio. Isaac Albro was 
a prosperous farmer. He died November 12, 
1838, having survix'cd his wife Sarah about 
thiit\-thrce years. 

Their son, Benjamin Albi'o, who was born 
December 25, 1802, married Mary E. Bassler, 
of Middleburg, Schoharie County, N.Y. , 
January 17, 1S38. She was born July 25, 
1818, and died February 7, 1884. Her ances- 
tors originally came from Holland, and pre\i- 
ous to the Revolutionary War settled in the 
towns of Beinc and Knox, Albany County, 
N.y. Ill early life Benjamin Albro taught 
school in Alban_\- and Schoharie Counties, and 
afterwards in \Va\ne and Cayuga Counties, 
New \'oik. He was engaged in mercantile 
business for some )-ears, was Town .Superin- 
tendent of conmion schools of the town of Mid- 
dleburg, and for the last forty-five years of his 
life he lived upon a farm near the village of 
Middleburg. He was an honored member of 
the Middleburg Methodist Episcopal church 
for sevent_\'-three }'ears, and was noted for his 
integrity and character. He died February 
10, 1895, aged ninet)-two years. 



Benjamin Albro and Mary E. Albro, his 
wife, had a son, William Hcnr)' Albro, the 
subject of this sketch, who was born in the 
town of Middleburg, Schoharie County, N.Y., 
on September 8, 1840. He obtained his ele- 
mentary education in the district and select 
schools of the town, was fitted for college at 
Charlotteville Seminary and F"ort lulward In- 
stitute, and he attended and was graduated 
from Union College at Schenectady, N. V. 
He taught several terms in the district schools 
of the town. Afterward he read law in the 
ofifice of W. H. Engle, Esq., of MitUUeburg, 
during the years 1864 and 1865, and was ad- 
mitted to practice as an attorney and counsel- 
lor-at-law of this State at a general term of the 
Sujireme Court held at the capitol in tlie city 
of Albany, N.Y. , on Decembers, 1865. (^n 
January i, 1866, he formed a partnership for 
the jjracticc of law with the said W. II. 
Engle, which continued until h'ebruary, 1874, 
when it was dissolved b_\' mutual consent. He 
then o]iencd an office in the village of Middle- 
burg, where he has been engaged in the prac- 
tice of law up to tlie i^rescnt time. 

On October 31, 1S67, William Henry Albro 
married IClizabeth Dodge, daughter of the late 
Daniel 1). Dodge, of Middleburg, N.Y., now 
deceased. Three childien were the fruit of 
this union, namely: Willie D. Albro, who 
was born January 29, 1870, and who died of 
scarlet fever April 14, 1872; Arthur D. 
Alhii), who was born October 29, 1871, and 
who died November 28, 1893; and Grace D. 
Albro, wlio was born Ma\' 5, 1874. 

Mrs. Elizabeth DoiIltc Albro was born in the 



BIOGRArHICAL REVIEW 



247 



town of Middleburg, Schoharie County, N.Y. , 
on September 7, 1S37, and died February 8, 
1892. She was a most excellent wife and 
mother, and was held in high esteem by all 
who knew her. Her death caused as nnich 
genuine sorrow as that of any other person ever 
did in the community in which she was known 
and had lived. In every true sense of the term 
she was of the noblest and best type of women. 
Her husband, the subject of this sketch, and 
their daughter, Grace D. , are all of the family 
who now survive her. The son, Arthur Dodge 
Albi'o, a bright and promising young man, 
who had just entered upon business life, sur- 
vived his mother only about two years. Since 
the death of mother and son, the father and 
daughter li\e together in the old home and 
constitute the remnant of what was once a 
jDrosperous and happy family. 

Upon Arthur's death his business came into 
the hands of his father; and since then, in ad- 
dition to his general law practice, the subject 
of this sketch has been conducting a large and 
successful mercantile business. His store is 
one of the largest in the county, carrying a 
large stock of drugs, groceries, and miscellane- 
ous goods. His law office contains one of the 
largest and best-selected law libraries in the 
county. He has been faiily successful as a 
lawyer, and also as a business man. He has 
held some official positions, among them that 
of School Commissioner of First Commissioner 
District of Schoharie County, during the years 
1879, 1880, and 1 881. He was elected to 
tint office by a majority of two hundred and 
eighteen votes at a time when there was a natu- 



ral political majority of about five hunch-ed 
against him. He points with pride to the 
record which he made while holding that office. 
No paper sent by him to the office of the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction was re- 
jected or sent back to him for correction, and 
no request was ever made by him to the super- 
intendent that was not cheerfully and promptly 
granted. 

The subject of this sketch is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity ; also of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, of which he has been a trus- 
tee for many years, and in which he has held 
other positions of trust. He was virtually the 
founder of the Union Free School and Acad- 
emy at Middleburg, N.Y., and was the first 
president of the Board of Education of that in- 
stitution. His daughter Grace was one of the 
first graduates of this institution. 

The Albro family, of Aldboro, England," of 
which the original John Albro was a member, 
had a coat-of-arms, a record of which may be 
found in the public offices of London at the 
present day. From the facts aforesaid, it 
clearly appears that Mr. Albro is a lineal de- 
scendant in the seventh degree of John Albro, 
of Aldboro, England, born 1617; that he is 
also a lineal descendant in the si.xth degree of 
Benedict Arnold, Governor of Rhode Island for 
three terms, beginning in 1663, 'Tid "'ho built 
Newport's Old Stone Tower; and that he is re- 
lated in the sixth degree to I'. P. Bliss, author 
of Gospel Hymns and a celebrated musical 
composer. He takes pride in tracing his an- 
cestry back through the centuries and to and 
through families in whose veins flowed some nf 



248 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



the purest and best of Knglisli, Welsh, and 
H(jlland blood. 




-HinVIN I). IIAGER, a general merchant 
il Blenheim, Schoharie County, is 
prominently identified with the leading inter- 
ests of this section of the State. He vva.s born 
May 31, 1H47, in Middleburg, N.Y., a son of 
Daniel J. Ilager, and the lineal descendant, 
we are told, of one of four brothers who came 
from Holland to America in the seventeenth 
century, and assisted the settlement of eastern 
New York. 

His paternal grandfather, Jacob Hager, was 
for many years an extensive farmer in b'ulton, 
whence he and his wife, Cathern Feeh, re- 
moved with their tweh'c children to Oeland, 
Orleans County, N.Y. , where both died when 
well advanced in years. The grandfather was 
acti\e in local affairs in both counties in which 
he resiileil, and in both he owned and cleared 
large tracts of land. Si.x of his children sub- 
sequently returned to Schoharie County, and 
for a time li\cd in Breakabeen. They were: 
Tunis, Jacob, John, Daniel J., Jane, and Mar- 
garet, none of whom are now living. 

Tunis Hager marrietl Rebecca Becker, and 
settled in .Sharon .Springs. Jacob married, 
and removed to Albany, and in 1849 he went 
with the gold-seekers to California. Return- 
ing from the Pacific Coast to Schoharie, he 
ke|)t the ])ul)lic house known as the Wood 
House a few years, after which he Cdndinted a 
hotel that occupied the site of the [nesent capi- 
tol building in Albany, and then coming back to 



this county he farmed it in the town of Espcr- 
ancc until his decease. John went with his 
brothei' Jacob to California, came back with 
him to SclKjharie, and after his marriage made 
a second trip to the Golden Gate. Returning 
East, he went into the livery business with 
Jesse Mills in New York City. In a short 
time he sold out to his partner, and opened a 
livery on his own account at CS96 ]5roadway, 
and at the St. Nicholas Hotel, wheie he car- 
ried on a thriving business some years. Re- 
tiring then from the livery, he bought a beau- 
tiful farm in l-ihinebeck, whither he removed 
with his wife and three sons, and there lived 
until his death, at the age of threescore and 
ten years. 

Daniel J. Hager was born in I'ulton, Sep- 
tember 5, 181 I. He learned the shoemaker's 
trade in his native place, and after his mar- 
riage, at the age of twenty-one, he continued 
to work at it first at Middleburg, then at 
Breakabeen, and finally in ]?lcnheim, where he 
passed his last years, d\'ing Seiitember 18, 
1871. He was a loyal Republican in politics, 
and as a soldier in the Union army he partici- 
pated in several of the battles of the Civil 
War. He married h^liza C. Zelie, who was 
a native t>f I'ulton, being the eldest of a fam- 
ily of nine childien — l^Iiza C. , Lias, Chris- 
tina, David, Jane, ]']phraim, Harriet, Andrew, 
and Margaret — born to Peter Zelie, whose 
wife was before marriage a Miss Vroman. 
(h'nrthei' ancestral history may be fdund on an- 
other jiage of this work, in connectinn with the 
sketch of Luther Zelie. ) Mrs. Eliza C. Zelie 
Hager was born November 10, 1816, and died 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



249 



October 10, 1S74. She had five children, 
namely: Mary C, wife of George Becker, the 
representative of an old family of Schoharie 
County; William S., a farmer in Blen- 
heim; Peter Z., a farmer in Oswego County; 
Edwin D. ; and Harriet A., wife of Peter 
Burgett, of Schoharie County. Both parents 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church of Middleburg, in which the father 
held various offices. 

Edwin D. Hager attended the district 
schools in his youthful days, and until he was 
sixteen years old he remained at home with his 
parents. He subsequently worked out by the 
day, sometimes as a farm laborer, for two 
years, after which he was em|jloyed by his 
brother-in-law as a clerk in Breakabeen for 
three years. The ensuing year he was en- 
gaged in the mercantile business for himself 
in Blenheim. He then sold out, and for two 
years was employed as a clerk or a teacher. 
In 1868 he went to Catskill, where he re- 
mained a year, when he returned to Blenheim, 
and for a year was here a clerk in a general 
store. Going then to Middleburg, Mr. Hager 
was with J. Nevill three years, and then, in 
partnership with the late Silas Sweet, he 
bought out the store of John Hager, in ]51en- 
heim, and carried on a successful business 
until the death of Mr. Sweet, three years 
later. The following sjiring he sold out the 
business, and the next year purchased a half- 
interest with Seneca West, and later formed 
a copartnership with Ira Haverly, to whom, at 
the end of four years, he sold out. Two years 
later Mr. Hager purchased the building which 



he is now occupying, and put in a new and 
complete stock of merchandise. He has now 
one of the largest stores in this section of the 
county, and carries the finest stock of gooils in 
his line. Being one of the oldest merchants 
in this locality, and with two exceptions the 
oldest in the county, he is well known, and it 
is safe to say no man has a better reputation, 
or is more highly esteemed in business and 
social circles. 

Mr. Hager is a strong silver man in poli- 
tics, and takes a prominent part in local 
affairs. For eighteen consecutive years he 
was a member of the county committee, and 
was a regular attendant at all conventions. In 
1882 he served as a delegate to the State con- 
vention held in Syracuse, and in 18S3 as a 
delegate to the Congressional convention. He 
has served as Supervisor of the town four 
terms, in 1878, 1879, 1882, and 1883; and in 
1884 he was appointed Postmaster by Pres- 
ident Cleveland, a position to which he was 
again appointed in 1892. He is one of the 
trustees of the school district, and a stock- 
holder in the Blenheim Creamery Company, of 
which he has been president since its incorpo- 
ration. Fraternally, he united with the Mid- 
dleburg Lodge, F. & A. M., in 1870, and is 
also a member of the Middleburg Lodge, 
I. O. O. F. 

On November 16, 1876, Mr. Hager married 
Nellie E. Beckwith, of Springfield, Mass., 
daughter of Calvin and Lucy B. Balton Beck- 
with. Mr. and Mr.s. Hager are the parents of 
three children, namely: Clyde L. , who died at 
the age of twenty-two months; Eugene B., 



25° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



born August 28, 1877; aiul Florence A., born 
July 20, 1882. Eugene 15. Ilager, who was 
educated in the graded schools, was formerly 
em[)lc)yed as clerk in ]5rooklyn and New York 
City, but is now in business with his father, 
lie niairieil, December 15, 1897, Margie Dib- 
ble, who was born March 8, 1S78, in Middle- 
burg, a daughter of and Eliza- 
beth (Dexter) Dibble. Mr. Ilager anil all his 
family attend the Methotlist Episcojial church. 




MBROSE R. HUiNTING, a promi- 
nent citizen of Schoharie, N. Y., re- 
siding on the Hunting homestead, 
was born in this town on September 14, 1833, 
son of Joseph and Mary A. (Chesebro) 
Hunting. 

The first of his family in this country was 
John Hunting, who came from England in 
August, 1638, and settled in Dedham, Mass. 
He was one of the founders of that town, and 
an Elder in the church there for many years. 
He had a son named John, of whom little is 
known, and a grandson, Nathaniel, who was 
graduated at Harvard College, and subse- 
quently preached to the church in Ivist Hamji- 
ton, N.Y., for fifty-seven years. 

The fourth in line, Nathaniel Hunting, sec- 
ond, was educated for the ministry, but poor 
health compelled him to give up his beloved 
profession, and devote himself to agriculture. 
His son, Joseph Hunting, was a sea captain. 
After this Joseph came two others of the same 
name. The first of these, who was the grand- 
father of Ambrose R. Hunting, was the first 



Hunting to come to .Schoharie. He came 
hither from Eong Island in 1791, accomjianied 
by his mother, and settled on the farm which 
has since been in the possession of his de- 
scendants. He was a shoemaker by trade, 
but was engaged more or less in farming and 
in mercantile affairs. 

The third Joseph Hunting, father of Am- 
brose R., was born in Schoharie in 1805, and 
resided in the town throughout his life. He 
was known as a man who attended strictly to 
his own affairs and caused no annoyance to 
other persons by interference. He never 
brought suit against any one, was never sued, 
ami never called upon to serve as a witness. 
In politics he was a Democrat. He was a 
leading member of the Methodist church, and 
for more than forty years a class leader. His 
wife, Mary, was born in Knox, Albany 
County, the daughter of Peleg Chesebro, a 
cooper and farmer. Her grandfather, Chris- 
topher Chesebro, who was a carpenter by 
trade, fought in the Revolution. He lived 
originally in Stonington, Conn., but removed 
thence to Kno.x in 1791. 

Ambrose R. Hunting was reared on the pa- 
ternal homestead, and attentled the public 
schools until he was seventeen years of age. 
He then was sent to Schoharie Academy for 
two terms, and afterward to the New York 
Conference Seminary at Charlotteville. After 
studying there for two years, he was prepared 
to enter the Junior class at L'nion College, 
Schenectady; but, his family being opposed to 
the profession he hafl chosen, he yielded to 
their wishe.^ and withdrew from school. After 




IIIKAM Kll'KNIlARK. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



253 



teaching for several terms he returned to the 
farm and began devoting himself to agri- 
culture. 

Mr. Hunting has been a loyal member of 
the Methodist church for fifty years, and has 
held every position in the church to which a 
layman is entitled, except that of lay delegate 
to the general conference. In politics he is a 
Democrat. He has held the office of Super- 
visor for four years, that of School Commis- 
sioner for two terms, and for a year he was a 
member of the Assembly. Fraternally, he is 
connected with Schoharie Valley Lodge, No. 
491, F. & A. M.; and John L. Lewis Chap- 
ter, No. 229, R. A. M. 

Mr. Hunting was first married on April 14, 
1859, to Amanda Severson. Two sons were 
born of this union: William J., who died in 
1S75; and Edwin F., who is a graduate of the 
Albany College of Pharmacy, and is now a 
successful druggist in that city. On June 5, 
1869, Mr. Hunting was married to Mary M. 
Northrop, who was born in Berne, Albany 
County, the daughter of Asa T. and Ann E. 
Northrop. By this second marriage there is 
one child, Florence A. She has received a 
musical education at Claverack Institute. 



2)TIRAM RIFENBARK, a represcnta- 
— • I tive citizen of the town of .Summit, 
residing in the village of Charlotte- 
ville, was born in Summit on April 30, 1839, 
his parents being Aaron and Mary (Banks) 
Rifenbark. 

The family is of German origin, and Mr. 



Rifenbark's great-grandfather spelled his name 
Rifenbarek. The grandfather, Henry Rifen- 
bark, came from Columbia County in 1802 or 
near that date, and settled about two miles east 
of Summit village. There he owned a whiskey 
still, a store, and an inn or tavern. He was a 
man of influence and of considerable property, 
and his tavern was often the gathering place 
of iinportant assemblies. Town meetings were 
sometimes held there. His brother Peter was 
a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed church. 
Henry Rifenbark's wife was a daughter of 
Caleb Clark, who was captured by the British 
and Indians during the Revolution, and carried 
to Canada. There Mr. Clark was kept at Fort 
Niagara under guard, but was sent out every 
day with other captives under a guard of 
Indians U> chop wood in the forest. The Ind- 
ians, believing that it was impossible for 
them to escape, often left them alone during 
the day, returning for them at night. Mr. 
Clark and his fellow-prisoners, however, with 
sturdy pioneer determination, resolved to make 
an effort to regain their freedom. Accord- 
ingly, one morning after their captors had left 
them, they started on snow-shoes for the Mo- 
hawk River, carrying the food that had been 
measured out to them for their mid-day meal. 
For many days this was all the food they had. 
At length, at the end of a week, he and his 
companions came to a deserted and tumble- 
down hut in the Mohawk Valley, where they 
found some mice. These they were forced to 
eat to keep themselves from starving. They 
finally reached home in safety, but Mr. Clark 
always felt exceedingly bitter toward the Brit- 



254 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ish. Ilcniy Kifcnbark and his wife had seven 
children, three sons — Marry C, Aaron, and 
Ebenezer — and lour daui;hters — Julia Ann, 
llattic, Marriet, and Caroline. All of the 
boys became farmers. 

Aaron Rifenbark, who was born in Summit 
in 1804, and died in 1883, was a leading citi- 
zen here and a [irominent man in the Demo- 
cratic party. He was twice married, the first 
time to Mary ]5anks and the second time to 
her sister Catharine. The first wife died in 
1848 and the second in 1895. The six chil- 
dren — William H., John, who is deceased, 
Hiram, Ebenezer, Permelia, and Hettie — were 
the fruit of the first marriage. The first- 
named of these, who resides in Hobart, Ind., 
is a leading Republican there, and in 1897 and 
1899 was a member of the Indiana legislature. 
He is prominent in business circles and as a 
Grand Army man. In the year iSgS he was 
engaged in building county roads. In 1893 he 
exhibited at the World's Fair steel neck yokes 
ami whiffletrees manufactured by the company 
of which he was president. Ebenezer Rifen- 
bark resides at Summit. He fought for the 
Union in the Civil War, and was wounded at 
Gettysburg. Permelia is the wife of Winthrcjp 
D. Gallu|). Hettie married I'. P. Gordon, 
M.D., of Hobart, Ind., and died in 1892. 

Hiram Rifenbark received his education in 
the public schools of Summit and at Char- 
lottcville Seminary. At the age of seven- 
teen he engaged to work on a farm seven 
months for sixty-five dollars. Mr. II. Master.s, 
his employer, who was away from h(jme much 
of the time, told him one day to sow a piece 



of land to buckwheat, ])utting in two bushels 
of seed. This was new^ work to Rifenbark. 
He began sowing broadcast, and soon found 
that he had put half the seed on a quarter 
of the land. He then sowed the remainder 
of the seed more sparingly, making it co\'er 
the other three-fourths of the kuul. He 
watched the growth with interest, but before 
harvest time the cows got into the field and 
ate up the grain, thick and thin. He lost not 
a day in that seven months. In the winter he 
attended school, and the next seven months 
he workeil for a farmer in P^ulton, his only 
holiday being the Fourth of July, which he 
insisted on keeping. The next winter lie 
taught school four months at ten dollars a 
month. April i of his nineteenth year found 
him engaged to a farmer in Summit seven 
months at eleven dollars a month. This sum- 
mer there was not a day of lost time, the man 
for whom he worked gi\ing him the Fourth of 
July. The following winter he again taught 
in the same district where he taught the first 
term, but with an increase of two dollars a 
month in his wages. He continued to teach 
schixil winters after this until he was married 
and settled on the farm, teaching one term in 
the winter, while 011 the farm, at two dollars a 
day. When twenty years old he worked seven 
months at Richmondville, ilri\ing team for the 
iron foundry at tweUe dollars a month. The 
next spring he began working at carpentry, 
continuing for three summers under a boss, 
and after that time he took jobs for himself 
till he purchased his father's farm of ninety-six 
acres in 1868. I'"our years later he sold the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



255 



farm, and bought the property, including the 
store now belonging to Levi J. Lincoln in 
Charlotteville, N. \'. After conducting a gen- 
eral merchandise business there for ten years, 
he sold the property, and, buying a \acant lot, 
built the residence he now occupies and the 
store across the street, where he conducted 
business for twelve years. He then sold the 
goods to Kingsley & Griffin, to whom he rented 
the store. Since that time he has been selling 
agricultural implements and fertilizers, and 
looking after business for himself and others. 
Mr. Rifenbark is a strong Democrat. He has 
shown a warm interest in political matters 
ever since he became a voter. He has been 
on the Town Committee a number of times, 
on the School Board several terms, in 1865 
Town Clerk, and much of tlu; time since 
1870 Notary Public. He has also served two 
terms as a Justice of the Peace, and has done 
a large amount of business settling estates 
and drawing contracts. He has served as e.\- 
ecutor of a number of the wills filed in this 
town, as he is kn(nvn to have an excellent 
knowledge of technical law points. P^rom 
188S to 1S90, inclusive, he was Supervisor of 
Summit. His record as Supervisor is marked 
primarily by a strong effort to secure an honest 
and economical expenditure of the public 
funds. P'earless and daring in his personal 
expression and effort when he believed himself 
laboring in a worthy cause, he met with .some 
opposition, but in the main won a loyal recog- 
nition from his constituents. He broke up 
abuses in the county relating to the housing 
and feeding oi vagrants, secured action by the 



governing board that caused the removal of all 
luxuries from the county prison, and worked 
hard for a reduction cjf expenses in every way. 
He served on the Committee on Sheriffs' Ac- 
counts, on public and other buildings, and on 
the Committee on Legislation. 

Mr. Rifenbark married Amelia Burnett, 
daughter of Colonel George O. Burnett, who 
was prominent in the militia. Mrs. Rifen- 
bark attended Charlotteville .Seminary, and 
subsequently taught school for ten terms be- 
fore her marriage. She is active in church 
work, and when the Good Templars and the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union were in 
existence here was one of their earnest sup- 
porters. Mr. Rifenbark was also connected 
with the Good Templars, being Chief Tem- 
plar. He has been clerk of the Baptist church 
at Summit, a member of tlie ministerial com- 
mittee, trustee, and for years superintendent 
of the Sunday-school. He is the teacher of 
the Bible class. He is strictly temperate in 
all things. His early life taught him the 
value of money, and he then acquired the hab- 
its of industry and economy which are still 
characteristic of him. He is a liberal con- 
tributor to every good cause, but never up- 
holds extravagance or waste. 




ICHAEL LACKEY, Jk., real es- 
tate and insurance broker, a well- 
known business man of Greene 
County, is a resident of Tannersville, where 
he was born on November 24, i860, son of 
Michael and Catherine (Burke) Lackey, His 



256 



UlOGRArmCAL REVIEW 



jjarents are still living, and make their home 
with him. 

I lis paternal grandfather, Thomas Lackey, 
who was born in Ireland, went to England in 
1 82 1, and resided there until 1S29, when he 
emigrated to America, and, settling in New 
York City, followed the trade of a cabinet- 
maker. In 1835 Tiiomas Lackey retired from 
active business pursuits and came to Tanners- 
ville, where he resided with his son, the elder 
Michael, until his death, which occurred in 

1853- 

Michael Lackey, Sr. , father of the subject 

of this sketch, was born in Ireland, May 18, 
1H15. Me came to America with his parents 
when fourteen years old, and was educated in 
the night schools of New York City. He 
learned the trade of a house painter, which he 
followed there for a time and then removed to 
Tannersville, where he continued in the same 
occupation. He also kept a country tavern in 
the old stage times when Tannersville was a 
hamlet called Greenland. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and has held offices. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Catherine Burke, is 
a native of Ireland. They have had four chil- 
dren, two of whom are now living; namely, 
Michael, Jr., and his sister, Lizzie P. The 
latter is the wife of Michael B. Dolan. 

Michael Lackey, Jr., acquired his educa- 
tion in the common schools of Tannersville. 
At the age of fifteen he went to New York 
City, and entered Lhrich's dry-goods store on 
Eighth Avenue, where he kept the country 
order books for one year. He then engaged 
in the ice cream and confectionery business at 



the corner of ICighth Avenue and P^ifty-ninth 
Street. Returning to Tannersville later, he 
taught school until 1883, at the same time 
studying law and becoming a practitioner. 
In 1S75 he purchased a farm of one hundred 
acres in Hunter known as Onteora Glen, 
which he conducted with his other business 
until 1892. I'Vom May 10, 1S91, to October 
20 of that year, he was proprietor of a laun.dry, 
having an exclusive contract for Onteora Park, 
including thirty cottages and a large inn; and 
he was ably assisted in this work by his wife. 
He moved from his farm in 1892, renting it 
until 1896 when he exchanged that property 
for the half-way house on the road to Hunter, 
anil removed to the \'illage of Tannersville. 
Soon after his return he erected a dwelling- 
house, oflRce, and store, the latter of which is 
well stocked with stationery, school supplies, 
sporting goods, and other merchandise, and is 
carried on by his wife. He does quite a busi- 
ness in the buying of Christmas-trees for the 
New York market, shipping from six to ten 
carloads annually. In 1893 he engaged in 
the real estate business. He erected a large 
buikling which he rents. He makes collections 
for many concerns through the county, and 
was appointed assignee for Willsey & Fromer, 
one of the largest firms in this vicinity. As 
local representative of several large insurance 
companies, he has secured some of the prin- 
cipal risks in the town. He has a great deal 
of law practice in the n-iinor courts. 

In 1883 Mr. Lackey was united in marriage 
with Julia Weller, daughter of Thomas 
Weller, formerly an inn-keeper in Birming- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



257 



ham, England. They have five children — 
Robert E., Charles H., Edward W., Mary L., 
and Clara E. 

Politically, Mr. Lackey is a Democrat. In 
i8Sg he was appointed Deputy Sheriff, hold- 
ing that office three years; and he was a can- 
didate for Supervisor in i8gi. He was ap- 
pointed Postmaster in 1893, and held that 
position until 1898, giving general satisfac- 
tion. He has been Counsel for the village 
corporation ever since its organization, has 
acted as notary public for the past fourteen 
years, and is frequently called upon to address 
political meetings. He is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias, and Past Chancellor of 
the local lodge. 




^TEPHEN LOUDON, a retired 
^/^ farmer of Fulton, Schoharie County, 
was born in the town of Blenheim, 
N.Y., February 16, 1821, son of John and 
Sarah (Tinkelpaugh) Loudon. 

John Loudon was born in Delaware, where 
he grew to man's estate on the parental home- 
stead. Choosing farming as his life occupa- 
tion, he moved to Schoharie County, which 
was then in its primitive wildness. He took 
up a tract of land in Blenheim, at a time 
when there were very few clearings in that 
locality or in the county, and there partly im- 
proved a farm. Disposing, however, of his 
newly acquired land in Blenheim, he bought 
land in the neighboring town of Gilboa, and 
was there engaged in his independent calling 
until his death, at the venerable age of eighty- 



three years. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Sarah Tinkelpaugh, died at the age of 
fifty-nine years, having borne him ten chil- 
dren. Four of the nine are still living, 
namely: Mary, wife of John Mattice; 
Stephen; Libby, wife of Jacob I. Coons; and 
Nancy. Both parents were members of the 
Baptist church. 

Stephen Loudon, by persevering industry 
and wise economy, accumulated considerable 
property, and while yet a young man pur- 
chased a farm in Breakabeen, which he after- 
ward sold, and bought a large farm on Bouck's 
Island, adjoining the Governor Bouck home- 
stead. Upon that farm he resided until 1894, 
when he bought his present home property, 
which is managed by his son-in-law, C. li. 
Markham, in connection with his own farm. 
Mr. Loudon has always been deeply interested 
in the welfare and advancement of the town of 
his adoption. In politics he is a firm sup- 
porter of the principles of the Democratic 
party. 

On August 31, 1846, Mr. Loudon married 
Lavinia VVhaley, who is a native of Dutchess 
County, New York, and is the only living 
child born to the late Daniel and Sarah (Car- 
penter) Whaley. 

Mr. and Mrs. Loudon have three daughters, 
namely: Caroline, wife of Prof. C. E. Mark- 
ham, teacher and farmer of P"ulton; Emma, 
wife of George Coykendall; and Mary, wife of 
Peter E. Schoonmaker, both of whom are suc- 
cessful business men in Kingston, N. V. 
These daughters are all graduates of the State 
Normal School, and were all of them teachers 



258 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in their younger clays. ^Ir. Loudon is a 
niemlier of the Baptist chureh, and Mrs. 
Loudon belongs to the Refornietl church. 



-ACOB FROMER, one of the most suc- 
cessful business men in Tannersville, 
N. Y., was born in Wittenberg, Ger- 
many, October 14, 1849, son of Daniel and 
Mary (Liepold) Fromer. His father, who 
also was a native of Wittenberg, emigrated to 
the United States in 1853. After his arrival 
in this country Daniel Fromer followed the 
trade of a chair-maker for a time, and then 
turned his attention to farming, first in Jewett 
and later in Tannersville, where he died at 
seventy-two. His wife, Mary, who was a 
native of Germany, was the mother of si.x chil- 
dren, namely: Mary; Rosa; John, first (de- 
ceased); Daniel, Jr.; Jacob; and John. Mary 
married Leonard L. Woodard. Rosa became 
the wife of Clarence Willsey. John keeps a 
boarding-house. Daniel, Jr., is proprietor of 
a hotel. Mrs. Mary L. Fromer died at the 
age of seventy-one. The parents were mem- 
bers of the I'resbyterian church. 

Jacob Fromer acquired his education in the 
schools of Jewett, and worked on the home 
farm until he was nineteen years old, when he 
went to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, going 
thence to West Virginia, and later entering 
mercantile business in Parkersburg, Va. 
Disposing of his establishment there at the 
end of eighteen months, he came to Hunter, 
where he engaged in the express business and 
also ran a stage to the Catskill. He aban- 



doned this enterprise at the expiration of a 
year and a half, and again entered mercantile 
business, carrying on a general store under 
the Cascade House for the same length of 
time. He next erected a building si.xty by 
sixty feet, and three stories high, adjoining 
his present office, and, putting in a stock of 
general merchandise, carried on business until 
1892, when he sold out. He started in a 
small way, but as his trade increased he was 
forced to enlarge both his stock and floor 
space in order to meet the demands of his pa- 
trons. He transacted a business amounting 
to over one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
dollars annually, and employed twelve assist- 
ants. In 1893 he made a trip to Florida, 
and upon his return in 1894 opened a sale and 
livery stable here and another at I'^lka Park, 
Hunter, both of which he has since conducted 
successfully, also doing quite an extensive 
business in the selling of carriages, sleighs, 
robes, and harnesses. He keeps twenty 
horses, antl at times has as many as thirty for 
livery purposes. In connection with this he 
is engaged in the real estate and insurance 
business, and besides his stable and office he 
has erected several dwelling-houses. 

In 187s Mr. Fromer was united in marriage 
with Susan Showers, a native of Hunter, 
daughter of Michael Showers, a farmer of that 
town. Her parents had a family of six 
children, four daughters and two sons. Mrs. 
Fromer's sisters are all married. 

Mr. Fromer is a Republican in politics. 
He was Supervisor continuously from 1893 to 
1899, having with a few exceptions served 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



259 



longer than any other member of the board; 
and during his term of office he succeeded in 
reducing tiie taxes. He was largely instru- 
mental in securing the incorporation of the 
village, and was trustee a number of years. 
He and Mrs. Fromer are attendants of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and contribute 
to the support of other denominations. 



JOLOMON KELLEY was born Feb- 
ruary 14, 1823, on the farm in 
Princetown, N.Y., on which he now 
resides, he being the owner thereof and de- 
voting his energies to its improvement and 
cultivation. Mis parents were Solomon and 
Grace (Wingate) Kelley. His father was 
born in Rotterdam, N.Y., and his mother in 
Princetown. His paternal grandfather was 
William Kelley, a Scotchman, whose occupa- 
tion was that of a miller and a farmer. He 
was an early settler in Rotterdam, but after- 
ward resided in Princetown and in Duanes- 
burg, and died in Mariaville. 

Solomon Kelley, the elder, learned the car- 
penter's trade, which he followed for several 
years. Settling upon new land in Princetown 
when a young man, he cleared the farm which 
is now owned by his son, and erected the 
buildings. An industrious farmer and a citi- 
zen of worth, he gained the good will of his 
neighbors by his many sterling qualities. In 
politics he voted with the Whig party, and in 
his religious belief he was a Presbyterian. 
He was the father of ten children, five of 
whom are living, namely: Solomon, the sub- 



ject of this sketch; Robert; John; Samuel; 
and Grace. The others were: William, An- 
drew, Sally, Jane, and Mary A. 

Solomon Kelley was reared at the home- 
stead and educated in the district schools. 
He has always resided at his birthplace, and 
succeeding to its ownership he has made gen- 
eral farming a profitable employment up to 
the present time. He is still smart and ac- 
tive, with the ability to perform a day's work 
which would tire many younger men, his early 
vigor giving no sign of decay. In politics he 
is a Republican. He attends the Presbyterian 
church. 

When twenty-seven years old Mr. Kelley 
married for his first wife Evelyn Love. His 
present wife was before marriage Nancy 
Gregg. By his first marriage he has one son, 
William, who is living at home. 



^AMES H. FLANAGAN, a prosperous 
farmer of Tannersville, N.Y., ant! a 
veteran of the Civil War, was born in 
New York City, February 14, 1842, son of 
Matthew and Margaret (Olwell) Flanagan. 
He is a descendant of the O' Flanagans of Ire- 
land. His great-grandfather Flanagan was 
named Thomas, and his grandfather was Pat- 
rick O'l'^lanagan. 

Matthe\y Flanagan, son of Patrick, emi- 
grated to America when a young man, first 
settling in New York City. After his mar- 
riage he came to this locality, where he 
worked in a tannery for some time, and then 
purchased a farm. Politically, he was a 



26o 



]!IO(]RAl'HICAL REVIEW 



Democrat. He died at the age of sixty-eight. 
His wife, Margaret, was a native of Irehmd. 
She was a (iaiighter of John Olwell, a farmer, 
who emigrated to the United States, and spent 
his last years cm a farm in tlie vicinity of 
Tannersville. Matthew ant! Margaret Mana- 
gan were the parents of ten children, seven of 
whom grew to maturity, and tive are now liv- 
ing; namely, James H., Patrick, Alice, Kate, 
and Rose. Patrick lives in Newark, N.J. 
Alice married John Hoolahan, and resides in 
Brooklyn. Rose married Patrick Gillooly, 
and is also residing in Brooklyn. The 
mother died at the age of fifty-si.x years. 

James H. I'lanagan came to Tannersville 
with his [jarents when very yonng, and at- 
tended the common schools. At the age of 
twenty, in 1862, he enlisted in Company G, 
Fourteenth United States Infantry. In the 
second battle of Bull Run he was severely 
wounded in the leg, and he lay upon the field 
for ten days unattended. He was then taken 
to Washington, and after being in various 
hospitals was discharged in 1863. Ujion re- 
covering from the effects of his wound he re- 
enlisted in the Cavalry, Independent Corps, 
and was stationed on the frontier, where he 
served three years. He was mustered out as 
a Corporal. Returning to Tannersville, he 
worked on his father's farm for two years, at 
the end of which time he went to Wisconsin, 
anil from there to .St. Clair County, Illinois, 
where he remained one and a half years. He 
then returned East, and, again settling in 
Tannersville, has followed farming with good 
results ever since. His property originally 



consisted of one hundred and fifty acres, but 
he disposed of one hundred acres to good ad- 
vantage. In politics he is a Republican, and 
served as Excise Commissioner some time. 

In 1876 Mr. Flanagan married Miss Mary 
I'^ Smith, ot Brooklyn, daughter of Patrick 
Smith, a member of the police force of that 
city. They have four chiklren — Eileen, 
Fairie, Utja l",ideen Desmond, and Oscar, 
luleen and l'"airie are now prejiaring them- 
selves for educational work. 

Mr. Flanagan is a comrade of A. N. Bald- 
win Post, G. A. R. He is an earnest advo- 
cate of temperance, and has rendered valuable 
service to the community in that direction. 
The family attend the Roman Catholic 
church. Mr. P'lanagan from childhooil has 
shown a marked liking for literature, and he 
has a fine librar}' containing books by some of 
the very best authors. He is also very fonil 
of music, and has a choice collection of in- 
strumental and classical musical works. 



'S^OHN BRADT, a retired farmer of Rot- 
terdam, was born in this town, Octo- 
ber f), 1839, son of Aaron I. antl I<;iiza 
C. (\'edder) Hradt. The ])arents were natives 
of Schenectady ; and the father was a pros[ier- 
ous farmer of Rotterdam, where he s]x'nt the 
greater part of his life. He died at the age of 
fift\'-eight years, and his wife lix'cd to be 
ninety-one. They were the parents of five 
children, two of whom are living, namely: 
John, the subject of this sketch; and Aar(jn 




JOHN liRADT. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



263 



]5. , who resides in Schenectady. The others 
were: Francis, Hester, and Helen. 

John liradt ac(|iiired liis education in the 
common schools of his native town. After the 
completion of his studies he assisted his father 
in carrying on the home farm, thereby obtain- 
ing a good knowledge of agriculture; and in 
early manhood he and his brothers, Aaron ]?. 
and Francis, jiurchased their sister's interest 
in tlie old homestead farm, which contained 
about one hundred and si.xty acres, located 
along the banks of the Mohawk Ri\-er. This 
they carried on successfully together till 
Aaron sold his interest. After that the farm 
was managed by John and I'rancis until 1SS9. 
In that year Mr. John Bradt retired, and built 
a handsome residence in the village, which he 
has since occupied, the industry displayed dur- 
ing his long period of activity having placed 
him in easy circumstances. It is interesting 
here to note that the ancestral farm has been 
handed down from his grandfather to the fourth 
generation, being now owned by Mr. ]5radt's 
nephew, Aaron J. Bradt, son of Francis above 
named. 

On December 28, 1871, Mr. Bi'adt was 
united in marriage with Fleanor Dorn, who 
was born in Princetown, August 3, 1847, 
daughter of Alexander and Harriet Dorn. 
tier father, who was a stirring farmer of 
Duanesburg, died at the age of sixty-one 
years. He was an active member of the 
Dutch Reformed church and for more than 
forty years an Elder. Mrs. Dorn is still liv- 
ing, and resides in Duanesburg. 

In politics Mr. Bradt is a Republican, but 



takes ]io part in public affairs beyond casting 
his vote. He has been a Deacon of the Re- 
formed church for the past eight years, and 
Mrs. 15radt is a member of the church. 




ENJAMIN I. TAEEMADGE, the 
well-kniiwn attorney and comisellor- 
at-law of Windham, N.Y. , is a na- 
tive of New lialtimore, (ireene County, and 
was born on November i, 1869, his parents 
being Thomas D. and Helen (Raymond) Tall- 
madge. Thomas D. Tallmadge's paternal 
grandfather, who was a leading farmer of 
Greene County, died before Benjamin I. was 
born. 

Thomas D. Tallmadge spent his life on a 
farm until he was a middle-aged man, when he 
opened a general merchandise store. After 
carrying that on for several years, he removed 
with his family to Albaii}', his son Benjamin 
being then about fourteen years old. Later 
Thomas D. Tallmadge removed to Oneonta, 
where he for a time conducted an ice business 
and afterward a market. He retired from busi- 
ness in (Jneonta, and subsecjuently resided 
there until his death, in June, 1893, at the 
age of sixty-three. He was stanchly a Demo- 
crat, but never took an active interest in local 
politics. His wife, Helen, was the daughter of 
John G. and I'llizabeth Hinman Raymond, of 
Coxsackie. Mr. Raymond, who had resided in 
New Baltimore jirevious to coming to Cox- 
sackie, was a large real estate owner. He 
died at Coxsackie in his seventy-ninth year. 
Of his seven children one son, Wallace W., 



264 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



wild is a merchant, resides at Coxsackic. 
lioth he and his wife were Presbyterians. 
Thomas I), and Helen Tallm;uii;e were the 
parents of eleven children, all of whom are 
living. They are as follows: Raymond, who is 
book-keeper and general manager for V'an Slyke 
& Horton, of Albany; Alice A. ; Josiah C, an 
attorney at Catskill ; Elizabeth; Edward C, 
who is in the enipinx- of the John G. Myers 
firm in Albany; Matilda, who is the wife of 
the Rev. -Samuel W. ICaton, pastor of the 
Methodist l^piscopal church at Patter, Pa. ; 
Thomas D., an artist residing in New York 
City; Caroline; Penjamin I.; Mae; and R. 
DeW'itt, who was a member of the P'irst New 
York \'(il iiiiteers in the late war. The mother 
of these children is still living in Oneonta, and 
her four daughters reside with her. She and 
her two youngest daughters are members of the 
Baptist church, while Alice and Elizabeth are 
connected with the Methodist church. The 
family is remarkable for its musical ability, 
and all four of the daughters have sung in 
church choirs. Edward C. Tallmadge also, who 
is a member of the First Reformed Church, 
has sung in the choir. He is likewise a mem- 
ber of the Consistory. 

Benjamin 1. Tallmadge resided with his 
]:arents until he was about si.xteen years of 
age. After attending the public schools of 
New Baltimore, he began a special course in 
Windham prejwratory to studying law, which 
enabled him to secure what is known as a law 
student's ceitificatc from the Board of Regents 
in Albany. He entered the office of his 
brother, the lion. J. C. Tallmadge, who was 



then practising in Windham, and there he re- 
mained until his admission to the bar in 1893. 
Immediatel)' upon his admission to the bar he 
formed a partnership with his brother, under 
the firm name of J. C. & ]5. \. Tallmadge, and 
this continued until I'cbruary, 1897, since 
which time he has been in business alone. 

'Phe Hon. Josiah C. Tallmadge, who is now 
a leading attorney in Catskill, began his prac- 
tice in Windham in 1875, having previously 
studied here with his uncle, luigene Raymond, 
who started in practice here over forty years 
ago. From 1890 to 1893 the Hon. J. C. 
Tallmadge was District Attorney of Greene 
County, and during that time was engaged in 
some notable criminal trials. He was one of 
the attorneys in the Poring Robertson case, 
which is one of the most celebrated, not only 
in the county, but in the State. His success 
in winning this for his client won for him 
great praise. Tallmadge brothers were for 
several years the only attorneys in Windham. 

Mr. Tallmadge was married in 1894 to Rose 
B. (iraham, who was born in this town, the 
daughter of Lucius S. and Phcebe (Bump) 
Graham, the father a well-known shoe dealer. 
Both I\lr. and Mrs. Graham are deceased, the 
former at the age of si.\ty-nine and the latter 
at the age of fifty-five. They were active 
members of the P-piscopal church. Their four 
children are: Mrs. Tallmadge, who is the 
eldest; I'-lla, who married L. H. Townsend ; 
Margaret R. ; and Edwin. Mr. and Mrs. Tall- 
madge have one child, a daughter Dorothy, 
aged two \'ears. 

Mr. Tallmadge is, as was his father, a 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



265 



Democrat, but lie does not engage actively in 
politics. He is a Mason and member of 
Mountain Lodge, No. 529. Roth he and his 
wife are members of the Presbyterian church, 
and he is treasurer of the Board of Trustees, 
leader of the choir, and an active worker in the 
Sunday-school. Mrs. Tallmadge is the church 
organist. Mr. Tallmadge was one of the or- 
ganizers of the Windham Water Company, and 
he is now secretary and treasurer of the organ- 
ization and one of its directors. 



— ♦-*••-♦— 




LBKRT CHASE, a well-known 
farmer of Hensonville, was born in 
Lexington, January 4, 18 19, son of 
Benjamin and Lydia (Skiff) Chase. Tlie 
family is of English descent. Thomas and 
Aquila Chase, brothers, emigrated from Eng- 
land, and were living at Hampton, N. H., as 
early as 1640. A few years later Aquila re- 
moved to Newbury, Mass. "A large majority 
of the Chases of the L^nited States," some one 
has said, "arc his descendants." Thomas 
Chase married Elizabeth Pliilbrick, and had 
five sons. The fourth son, Isaac, removed to 
Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Mass. He was 
twice married, and had a number of children. 
" Benjamin Chase, the father abo\-e men- 
tioned, was a son of Zephaniah Chase, and 
both were natives of RLartha's Vineyard. 
Zephaniah Chase, the grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, came to Lexington as a pio- 
neer. He cleared a large tract of land, and 
spent the rest of his life there, dying at the 
age of eighty. 



Benjamin Chase resided on the home farm 
for some years. Later he purchased a farm 
near l)y, where he spent the rest of his life. 
His death also occurred at eighty years. When 
a young man he was an officer of the militia. 
His wife, Lydia, who, like himself, was a 
native of Martha's Vineyard, became the 
mother of ten children, nine of whom grew to 
maturity, and two are now living, namely: Al- 
bert, of Hensonville; and Ira, who resides in 
Jewett. The others were; Benjamin, who 
lived in Lexington, and died aged ninety- 
three; Elizabeth, who resided on the old home- 
stead, and died at eighty years of age; Lydia, 
who married Orin Burgess, of Hunter, and died 
at the age of si.xty; William, who died in 
Ohio at eighty; Lucinda, who married Mathias 
Chittenden, and resided in Callicoon, Sullivan 
County, where her death occurred when she 
was sixty years old; Mary, who became the 
wife of Samuel Cook, of Sidney, Delaware 
County, and died at the age of sixty; and 
Sarah, who became Mrs. I'eleg Cliamberlain, 
resided in Michigan, and died at the .same aa-e. 
The mother died in 1827, at the age of fifty. 

Albert Chase in his early childhood attended 
the common schools of Lexington. He resided 
at home until the death of his mother, when, 
a lad of eight years, he went to live with an 
uncle in Jewett, about two miles l)eIow Hunter 
village. At the age of twenty he returned to 
Lexington and learned the carpenter's trade, 
which he followed for about twenty-five year.s, 
becoming one of the largest contractors in this 
.section of the county. He erected many pri- 
vate residences, business blocks, mills, bridges. 



266 



BIOGRArmCAL REVIF.W 



and other structures, cnipl(ning a number of 
men. lie came to Ilensonville in 1S45, 
when this village was in its infancy, and did 
an extensive business here, erecting many of 
the present buildings. I'urchasing a saw- 
mill in 1863, he carried on a large lumber 
business for some years. He removed to his 
present farm, consisting of three hundred acres, 
in 1S58, erected his dwelling-house and other 
buildings, and, relinquishing his contracting 
business a few years later, gave his principal 
attention to farming. Since 1880 his son, De 
Mont, has had charge of the cultivation of the 
home acres. Mr. Chase and his sou have pur- 
chased two additional farms, one being devoted 
to dairy purposes, and they keeji twenty-seven 
cows, mostlv Jerse\s. 

In 1844 Mr. Chase was united in marriage 
with Miss Laura O. Woodworth, of Windham, 
daughter of .\bner and ]5etse\' (Judson) Wood- 
worth, ller father, who was a native of 
Cherry Valley, and followed farming during 
his active jK-riod, spent his last days in Hast 
Jewett, dying at the age of eighty-two years. 
Her mother, who was born in Windham, died 
at the age of forty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. 
VVoodworth reared a famih' of si.\ children, 
(^f these the three living are: Laura, who is 
now Mrs. Chase; Lucius, who resides in 
LIunter; and Lucinda, who is the wife of Dr. 
Mead. Mr. and Mrs. Chase ha\e had tue chil- 
dren — Sophronia, Lydia, Abner, lunery, and 
De .Mont L. Chase. .Sophronia died of diph- 
theria at the age of seventeen. Lydia, who is 
no longer living, married Cyrus Kloodgood, 
clerk of Catskill County. Abner died at the 



age of two years. Emory, formerly a member 
of the law firm of Hallock, Jennings & Chase, 
later Jennings & Chase, was elected Judge of 
the Supreme Court in 1896. He married 
Mary Churchill, daughter of the proprietor of 
St. Charles Hotel, of New York, and has two 
children — Jessie C. and Albert W. Chase. 
De Mont L. Chase is now associated with his 
father in carr\ing on the farm. lie h;is served 
as Supervisor and Tax Collector. He married 
Josephine Osborn, daughter of h'.lbert Osborn, 
of Brooklyn, and has two children — Leona L. 
and Elbert O. Chase. 

Mr. Chase is a Republican in politics. He 
has been Overseer of the Poor, and has acted 
as Justice of the Peace for four years. He is 
connected with the Order of Good Templars, 
al.so with the .Suns of Temperance, and has 
filled some of the im])ortant chairs in these so- 
cieties. He is a member of the .Methodist 
Episcopal church, of which lie has been trus- 
tee, steward, and class leader for many years. 
He has also been district steward, was a mem- 
ber of the building committee which erected 
the new church, ami served as trustee of the 
parsonage. He was formerly superintendent of 
the Sunday-school, and Mrs. Chase was a 
teacher. 

l.l.l.X.M S. VAX1)I:RP1LT, a rep- 
resentative citizen of the village of 
Greenville, was born in New York City on 
February 10, 1845, his parents being William 
S. and Susan A. (Wright) X'anderhilt. He 
belongs to a famih- '.hat has for many years 
been prominent in Rockland County. His 




>.£ 



wmf 



b>' 



■\ 




WILLIAM S. VANDEKBILT. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



269 



great-grandfather .settled in Clarkstown, in 
that county, when a young man, and resided 
there on a farm during the remainder of his 
life. His grandfather, Isaac Vanderbilt, was 
born in Clarkstown, and spent his life there 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

William S. Vanderjjilt, Sr. , son of Isaac 
and father of the subject of this sketch, was 
also born on the homestead, but at the age of 
fifteen he left the parental roof and learned the 
merchant tailor's trade. At twenty-one he 
began business for himself in New York City, 
and subsequently for twenty-seven years con- 
ducted it most successfully. His store was at 
416 and later at 408 Broadway, and his was 
one of the best-known tailoring establishments 
in the city. He died on February 13, 1864, 
being only forty-eight years of age. His wife, 
Susan, who died in 1893, at the age of si.xty- 
nine, was born in Greenwich village, now a 
part of New York City, and spent the whole of 
her life in the great metropolis. She was the 
daughter of Charles S. Wright, who was for 
many years one of the most influential mem- 
bers of the School Board of Trustees of the 
Ninth Ward in the city of New York, and for 
a long time its chairman. At one time Mr. 
Wright was waited upon by a committee to see 
if he would accept the nomination to the legis- 
lature. Mr. Wright declined the honor. He 
lived, about 1824, in the house in Greenwich 
village which his father had built. It was then 
out in the country, and the canal wound its 
sluggish way through what is now Canal Street. 

William S. , Sr. , and Susan Vanderbilt, had 
eight children, of whom four are now living; 



namely, William S., Oliver DeGray, Jolm, 
and Mrs. George W. \'anderhoef. Mrs. Van- 
derbilt, after the death of her first husband, 
married Andrew Hoogland, a prominent and 
well-to-do citizen of New York, and one of the 
best-known members of the New York Produce 
Exchange. Mr. Hoogland was born on May 
20, 1815, and died in 1879. Me was a direc- 
tor in the Corn Exchange Bank, and of the 
New Amsterdam Insurance Company, and for 
many years a member of St. Andrew's Curling 
Club, its president in 1873 and 1874, and at 
one time president of the National Curling 
Club. He also represented the St. Andrew's 
of New York City at the national convention 
at Toronto in 1873. To the last-named club he 
gave a fine flag. He held membership in the 
Dutch church, and was one of its active and 
liberal supporters. At one time he was a mem- 
ber of the Seventh Regiment of militia, and 
later a member of the Victorian Association. 

William S. Vanderbilt, the subject of this 
sketch, lived in New York City until 1871, 
when he took up his residence in Greenville. 
He boarded in different families for a number 
of years, but in 1S88 began buying land, and 
the following year built his present handsome 
residence. He owns a number of fine farms, 
including what are known as the Eewis Sher- 
rill and Prevost farms. Mr. Vanderbilt is 
one of Greenville's most public-spirited citi- 
zens, and has shown this in man}- ways. He 
built in the village a beautiful opera house, 
and gave a great stimulus to the introduction 
of water in the town by ]ilacing it in all of his 
buildings. 



270 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mr. Vandcibilt married in 1876 Miss Mary 
J. Ilickok, of this town, a descendant of one 
of the old and leading families. .She died at 
the age of thirt\-three, leaving one daughter, 
Lizzie II. Vandcrbilt. On November 14, 
1888, Mr. Vandcrbilt married Mary Reed, 
daughter of John K. and Ann (.Shcrrill) Cha])- 
man. Iter father was born at Salisbury, 
Conn. While yet a mere lad his father, Rob- 
ert I-., moved to the vicinity of Greenville, 
where he died in 1857, eighty-two years old. 
Mrs. Vanderbilt's father was an early gold 
hunter on the Pacific Coast, going to Cali- 
fornia by the way of the Isthmus of Panama in 
1849. After acquiring considerable money for 
those days, he returned to Greenville, was 
married, and shortly after went to Jane.sville, 
Wis., where with a brother, he engaged in 
the dry-goods business. Here his daughter 
Mary was born. He returned to Greenville in 
1865, residing there until his death in 1888, 
at the age of seventy years. His wife, Mrs. 
Vanderbilt's mother, was the daughter of 
Lewis Shcrrill, a descendant of one of the pio- 
neer families of the town. Her grandfather, 
Jonathan Shcrrill, had extensive tanneries. 
One of them was located on the corner where 
Coonleys Hotel now stands. Jonathan Shcr- 
rill built and occupied the house that is now 
the residence of Dr. 15. S. McCabe. His 
home at the time of his death was the house on 
North Street owned by Charles R. Knowlcs, 
of Albany (a grandson), and used as a summer 
residence. He died in 1S51, in his eighty- 
.second year. 

Lewis Shcrrill, for many years president of 



the old Greenville Academy, was a broad- 
gauge public-spirited man. He was a success- 
ful farmer and stock-raiser, a life-member of 
the New York State Agricultural Society, and 
the first president of the Greene County Agri- 
cultural Society. The stone walks about the 
village, among other things, are largely the 
result of his energy and push. He died in 
March, 1889, at the age of eight}'-eight. His 
wife, Plsther I'ord, died in 1873, at the age of 
si.xty years. Mr. and Mrs. Vandcrbilt have 
two children living, the elder being William 
Stephen, and the younger George Vanderhoef 
Vandcrliilt. 

In politics Mr. X'anderbilt is a Ke]niblican, 
and some years ago he was very active in all 
political matters. He is a member of James 
M. Austin Lodge, I'. & A. M., of which he 
has been treasurer for a number of years, and 
he holds membershi]) in the Royal Arch ("haiv 
tcr, of Greenville. He is also a charter mem- 
ber of the Knights <if Pythias organization 
here. He is warden and treasurer of the Epis- 
copal church, and treasurer of Greenville Lire 
District. 



\^ 




AGh: T. HOAGLAND, editor and 
^'^ proprietor of the Kicorci, Oak Hill, 
was born in Malugin's Grove, near 
Di.xon, Lee County, 111-, March 23, 1856, .son 
of Abram .Mien and luuiice L. (Hloodgood) 
Hoagland. He is of the eighth generation in 
descent from Chiistophal Hoageland, who was 
born in Ildllaiul in i''i34, emigrated to Amer- 
ica about the )-ear 1654, and settled in New 
Amsterdam. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



271 



From Christiiphal the ancestral line is traced 
tlirough his eldest son, Christopher,- who was 
born in the vicinity of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; John,' 
who was born in Flatlands, N.J., in 1701, and 
died in 1767; Jacob Hoageland,-* born in Har 
binger, N.J., in 1735; Abraham Hoogland,' 
who was born in Sowerland, New Harbinger, 
Somerset County, N.J., about the year 1773; 
Benoni Hoogland,'' who was born in Gilboa, 
N. Y. , February 25, 1796; and Abram Allen 
Hoagland,'' who was born in Gilboa in 1S31; 
to Page T. Hoagland,'^ the subject of this 
sketch. 

Jacob Hoageland resided in New Jersey 
until after tlie settlement of his father's estate, 
when he came to New York, and, after sojourn- 
ing for a time in Schoharie County, went from 
there to Albany Count}', where he passed the 
rest of his life. Abraham Hoogland, of the 
fifth generation, accompanied his parents to 
Gilboa in 1785. Remarried Polly M. Fraser, 
daughter of Benoni Fraser, who was one of the 
earliest settlers in Schoharie County and a 
Revolutionary soldier. On September 11, 
18 1 7, Benoni Hoogland, the grandfather, mai- 
ried Katy Shoemaker, who was born August 
29. I79i> daughter of Jacob Shoemaker. 
Grandfather Hoogland died May 25, 1867, and 
the grandmother died May 27, 1868. They 
were the parents of nine children, two sons 
and seven daughters, and five of their family 
are now living. 

About the year 1854 Abram Allen Hoag- 
land, Mr. Page T. Hoagland's father, removed 
from New York to Illinois, where he followed 
his occupation of carpenter and joiner for a 



short time. Then going from there to Eau 
Claire, Wis., he purchased a farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres adjoining the town site. 
Two years later he returned to New York, and 
fnjm 1859 to 1866 resided in Ashland and 
Jewett, Greene County. After the close of 
the Civil War he again went to Illinois. He 
located in Rockford, and resuming his trade 
remained there until shortly after the death of 
his father, in 1S68, when he came to Gilboa to 
care for his mother, who died suddenly within 
the following year. The ne.\t two years he 
spent upon a farm in Johnson Hollow, town of 
Roxbury, , N. Y., and in 1870 removed to 
Oneonta, this State, where he was employed 
in the car-shops of the Albany & Susquehanna 
Railroad Company. He next settled in Bing- 
hamton on a leased farm, which he carried on 
until 1876 ; and the year after he cultivated the 
G. H. Bloodgood farm in Conesville. He 
then came to Oak Hill, followed his trade here 
for two years; and in 1879 he returned to 
Conesville, occupying the Hawvcr farm for 
about one year. Removing to Superior, Neb., 
in 1880, he resided there some years. He is 
now living upon a large farm in Oak Hill. 
His first wife, Eunice E. , whom he married in 
1854, was a daughter of Abraham Bloodgood. 
Her father, who was a tanner, spent most of 
his life in Jewett, and her mother was a repre- 
sentative of the Tower family of New P'ngland. 
It is said that some of her ancestors came over 
in the "Mayflower." Abram Allen Hoag- 
land's first wife died in 1894, at fifty-nine 
years of age. The maiden name of his second 
wife was Eugenia Brand Lynam. He is the 



272 



BIOGRAPHICAL KEVIKW 



father of two children, both by his first wife: 
Page T. , the subject of this sketch; and Edith 
G., who married William J. Winn, of Bridge- 
port, Conn. 

Page T. Iloagland came from Wisconsin to 
Greene Count)' with his ])arents when about 
three yeai's old. His cihicatioiial opjiortuni- 
ties were confined to the schools of the various 
localities in which he lived U]) to 1S70, when 
he became a jitipil in the Onconta graded 
school, under the supervision of Professor 
N. N. ]5iill. lie was graduated in 1S72, and 
immediately entered the store of ]^. (loldsmith 
as a clerk. Afterward he worked for Joseph 
and Morris Price in the same caj^acity, and 
later for Miller & Pojie, dealers in flour and 
provisions. He taught school in Sullivan 
County (hu'ing the ensuing winter, and then, 
joining his lather on the farm at Binghamton, 
he remained there the following season. In 
the fall of i<S79, having previously taught 
schools in Conesville and Rensselaerville, he 
entered the store of Hagadorn Brothers, Gil- 
boa. A year later he went to -Superior, Neb., 
antl, after being employed as a clerk during the 
fall and winter of 1880 and iXSi, he in the 
spring became a caw-boy, and remained on 
the ranch until July of that year, when he went 
to Plattsmouth, Neb., twenty miles below 
Omaha. Failing to find employment in the 
city stores, he worked in a brick-vard until, 
through the influence of a friend, he obtained 
a subordinate position upon the clerical force 
of the Burlington & Mis.souri River Railroad. 
In 1883 lie was ajipointed assistant station 
agent on the Chicago, Burlington & (Jninc)' 



Railroad at Pacific lunction, la., resigning in 
January, 1884, in order to take the position of 
manager of the loss and damage department of 
the Burlington & Missouri Railroad at their 
headquarters in Omaha. He continued to serve 
in that cajjacity until the ensuing fall, when 
he was forced b)- ill health to return to (iilboa. 
In March, 1885, he purchased of II. V. 
Jones the Jefferson (N.Y. ) Courier, which he 
conducted for over three years, selling in Au- 
gust, 1 888, to George M. Proper, of Eminence, 
N. \'. He next jiurchased the Monitor, a paper 
published in (iilboa, which he carried on until 

1893, when he ilisposed of it to Berton G. 
Griffin, and coming to Oak Hill in the spring 
of 1894 establi.shed the Rfcor,/, which he has 
conducted successfull\- ever since. He has a 
well-equi])petl plant w^ith amiile facilities for 
handling the constantly increasing circulation 
of his paiier, anil his advertising de])artmcnt is 
both popular and profitable. 

In June, 1882, Mr. Hoagland was united in 
marriage with l-'rances Stryker, daughter of 
Abraham .Str\ker, of Gilboa. She died in 

1894, at the age of thirt}'- seven, ha\'iiig been 
the mother of seven children. Of these, five 
are living — Scott R., Hazel C, (Juy W., 
Cecil A., and Ellen F. On September 4, 

1895, he married for his second wife Ella 
Cherritree, daughter of Walter S. Cherritree, 
a native of Durham and prominently identified 
with the foundry interests of Oak Hill. 

In politics Mr. Hoagland is a Reiniblican, 
and during his residence in Jefferson he served 
as Town Clerk and as School Trustee. He 
serveil in the same cajjacity in (iilboa, where 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



=73 



he was candidate for Supervisor in 1893, and 
was again his party's candidate for Town Clerk 
in 1 898. He has been a member of the Repub- 
lican County Committee since 1896. He was 
made a Mason at Jefferson in Working Lodge, 
No. 554, F. & A. M., of which he was Junior 
Warden for two years. In 1889 he was de- 
mitted to (lilboa Lodge, No. 630, of which he 
served as secretary four years. He is now a 
member of Cascade Lodge, No. 427, Oak Hill. 
In 1S92 he joined l^lenheim Lodge, No. 651, 
I. O. O. F. , from which he withdrew to be- 
come a charter member of Lyman Treniaine 
Lodge, No. 265, Oak Hill, of which he was 
treasurer for the years 1896 and 1897, and was 
chosen Vice-Grand in 1898. He was made 
Noble Grand January i, 1899, serving until 
July I of the same year. During this year he 
was recommended to the Grand Lodge as sec- 
retary to the Grand Committee, District of 
Greene. He is also a member of Middleburg 
Fncampment, No. 129, and Valley Chapter, 
No. 38, Order of the Eastern Star. At the 
age of fourteen he was confirmed by Bishop 
Doane, of Albany, and has served as vestry- 
man of the ICpiscopal church. lulucational 
and literary matters have absorbed his leisure 
time, and he has a well-selected library of 
standard works. 




[LDA B. CHAPMAN, wife of J. P. Chap- 
man, of Plast Cobleskill, Schoharie 
County, N. Y. , and a prominent worker in the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, was 
born at Bramanville, in the town of Cobleskill, 



on April 9, 1852, her parents being Nelson 
and Catherine M. (Braman) Bice. Her family 
is of Dutch origin, a representative of it com- 
ing from Holland in 1657, and .settling in New 
York when it was called New Amsterdam. 
The name was originally spelled Buys, as it 
still is in Holland. 

Mrs. Chapman's paternal grandfather, Joshua 
Bice, who was a farmer and later a merchant, 
settled on land in East Cobleskill. He was a 
man of strong Christian character, and for 
si.xty-two years was an earnest and devoted 
member of the Methodist church. He was the 
fir.st member of the church here. At the age 
of seventy-four years he handed in the class- 
book that he had used in the many years when 
he had held the position of class leader, .saying 
he was too old to attend to it any longer. 

Mrs. Chapman's father. Nelson Bice, was 
born at East Cobleskill, where his daughter 
now resides. He lived in this county nearly 
all his life, and for the nine years preceding 
his death he lived on this place. He was a 
farmer by occupation. F"or six years, while 
residing in Middleburg, he served as Assessor 
of the town, being nominated to the office by 
acclamation. In politics iie was a Democrat. 
At the age of twenty-three he joined the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and from that time 
until his death, in 1S80, he was one of its 
faithful members. F'or many years he held 
the office of superintendent of the Sunday- 
school, for eight years that of class leader, and 
for many years he was one of the church trus- 
tees. He served his townspeople as school 
trustee for a number of years. His wife,. 



274 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Catherine, was born in ]?ramanvillc, daughter 
of John W. Braman. Ilcr grandfather, Will- 
iam iJraman, was an I^nglishman; and his 
wife, whose maiden name was De Lamater, 
was half l'"rencli and part Dutcli, being a de- 
scendant of the Rev. Everardus Bogardns and 
his wife, Anneke Jans. John W. ]5raman 
built a woollen-mill in Bramanvilie. The 
place was named in his honor, and he was one 
of its most highly valueil citizens. He was a 
strong achocate of temperance. When at the 
advanced age of seventy he taught the village 
school in Bramanville. For twelve years he 
was a Justice of the Peace. He married Eliz- 
abeth VVetsell, daughter of Christopher Wet- 
sell, a German who owned about a thousand 
acres of land and a number of slaves. When 
the State gave them freedom, some of Mr. 
Wetsell's negroes remained with him, and 
some of them accompanied Elizabeth Wetsell 
when slie married and left home. 

Mrs. Chapman's father was an ownei' in the 
Wdiillen-niill built b\- her grandfather Biaman, 
but when she was three years of age he re- 
mcjved to East Worcester. There the family 
lived for the next five years, at the end (if 
which time they went to I'last Cobleskill. 
Six years later they removed to Fultonham, 
and after staying in that ])lace four j-ears they 
returned to East Cobleskill, where Mrs. Chap- 
man has since made her home. She attended 
the district schools until she w'as si.xteen years 
old, and was then sent to Schoharie Academy, 
where she remaineil for some time, studying 
academic branches and music. .She subse- 
quently studied music with Miss Rankin, of 



Middleburg. Her marriage occurred on Octo- 
ber 25, iiS/i, and since that time she has 
shown her ability not only in the administra- 
tion of her domestic duties, but in various re- 
sponsible pid)lic positions. In connection 
with her efforts in behalf of the cause of tem- 
perance she has been county superintendent 
of the Sunday-school work of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. For twenty-one 
years she was a teacher in the Sunday-school 
of the Methodist church, of which she is a 
member. 

Mr. Chapman was born in Fulton, his [Kir- 
ents being Jacob and Huldah (Winans) Chap- 
man. His mother was the daughter of the 
Rev. Mr. Winans, a Eajjtist minister. Mr. 
Chapman is an enterprising farmer and a man 
who commands universal esteem. He has 
been twice elected Supervisor of the town of 
Middleburg. 

Mrs. Chajiman takes an active interest in the 
advancement of agriculture, and has written 
several valuable essays, which were read be- 
fore the State Agricultural Society anil before 
the State Dairymen's Association. .She has 
also read papers before the county Sunday- 
school conventions, and has been one of the 
judges of awarti at two silver medal contests. 
Mrs. Chajiman is the mother of three daugh- 
ters — Lena May, Mildred IL, and Agnes E. 
The first named is a graduate of the Cobleskill 
High School antl of Syracuse University. 
Mildred II. is a graduate of the Cobleskill 
High School, and is now preparing to take a 
course of study in S\-racuse University. 
Agnes K. is ten vears of age. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



2/5 



AUGUSTUS SNYDER, superintend- 
ent of the Foltz summer home at 
Cobleskill, N. Y. , near Warnersville, 
was born in this town, October 6, 1844, son of 
William and Rebecca (Bouck) Snyder. He is 
of thrifty (jcrman ancestry, and a lineal de- 
scendant of one of the original settlers of this 
section of Schoharie County. 

William Snyder, first, his great -great -grand- 
father, emigrated from Germany in Colonial 
times, and located on Helderberg Mountain, 
near Albany, N.Y., but prior to the Revolu- 
tion he came to Cobleskill, where he took up 
a tract of wild land and began the improve- 
ment of a homestead. In the ensuing struggle 
for independence William Snyder took an ac- 
tive part, serving as a soldier in the army until 
the close of the war. The Uutheran church, 
which was built by him, contained a tablet 
bearing his name. 

Peter W. Snyder, the grandfather of J. Au- 
gustus, was born on the old Snyder homestead, 
which later passed into his possession. He 
was an industrious, energetic worker, and 
added materially to the improvements on the 
estate, erecting the jDresent comfortable set of 
buildings. He married Catherine Warner, a 
daughter of Nicholas Warner, who also was 
one of the earliest Settlers of this part of Scho- 
harie Count}', and formerly the owner of al- 
most the whole of the present site of the 
village of Warnersville. A man of good 
understanding, interested in the cause of edu- 
cation, Peter W. Snyder had the distinction of 
being the first English school-teacher in this 
valley. For many years he served as Justice 



of the Peace; in 1826 and 1827 he was a mem- 
ber of the Assembly; and was also one of the 
first railway commissioners in this locality. 
He died at a ripe old age in 1S50. Peter W. 
Snyder and his wife were members of the 
Lutheran church. Of their union seven chil- 
dren were born. Mrs. Catherine W. Snyder 
survived her husband a score or more of years, 
attaining the venerable age of ninety-three. 

Their son, William Snyder, second, was 
born and reared on the old home farm, and 
eventually succeeded to its ownership. He 
carried it on successfully for many years, but 
later sold it, and, buying a farm near by, there 
spent his remaining days, dying at the age of 
seventy-six years. In addition to general 
farming he was extensively engaged in mill- 
ing, and built the plant now known as Sny- 
der's mills, a large mill having four runs of 
stone, which is now operated by one of his 
sons. He manufactured large quantities of 
flour and made a specialty of custom grinding, 
for years carrying on a lucrative business. 
He was an uncompromising Democrat, influen- 
tial in local affairs, and held many public 
offices, being Supervisor five years, Excise 
Commissioner eighteen years, and Justice of 
the Peace a number of terms. He attended 
the Lutheran church, and gave generously 
toward its support. He was three times mar- 
ried. His first wife, whose maiden name was 
Diana Bouck, died at an early age, leaving two 
children — George W. ami Margaret. George 
W. attended Franklin and Schoharie Acade- 
mies and Union College, after which he entered 
West Point, where he was graduated at the 



fjd 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



head of his class in the L-ngiiiecr's department. 
In 1858 he was appointed Second Lieutenant, 
and he was afterward stationed at liitferent 
points along the coast, including Boston, I'en- 
sacola, Key West, Charleston (S. C. ), and Fort 
Moultrie. In 1X61 he was ordered to Fort 
Sumter, and while there was twice promoted, 
first to the rani< of iMrst Lieutenant and then 
Captain. He was suhsecpiently ])aroled for a 
time, and on return inj;- to Washington was ap- 
])ointed as Aide de-camp to General Heintzel- 
man, and was with him at the battle of Hull 
Run. Taken sick with typhoid fever just 
after the battle, he died November 17, 1861. 
He had been brevetted Lieutenant Colonel. 
As a soldier he was brave and courageous, 
laithful in the performance of every duty. 
The father's second wife, Lavina 15ouck, lived 
but a few years. He subsequently married for 
his third wife Rebecca l^ouck, who was born 
in Cobleskill, a dau-hter of David J^ouck, and 
a lineal descendant of Covernor Houck. She 
l)ore him seven children, of whom three arc 
now living; namely, J. Augustus, David B. , 
and William. The mother died at the age of 
fifty-eight years. 

J. Augustus Snyder lived with his inirents 
until si.xtcen years old, when he began life for 
himself. While working with his father he 
had learned the miller's trade, and he subse- 
quently operated for five years a grist-mill that 
his father bought in Hyndsville. He then 
went West, and at Saginaw, Mich., he en- 
gagetl in lailroad construction and lundiering 
si.\ years. Returning hcjnie in 1S75, he en- 
tered the mill now owneii by his brother. 



David B. , and this he operated a few years. 
After that he carried on a farm seven years, 
selling out at the end of this period and remov- 
ing to Richmondville, where he was engaged 
as a retail grocer and niarketman for five years. 
During the next si.\ years Mr. Snyder kept a 
hotel, and shortly after .selling that property he 
assumetl his ]iresent res|)onsible position as su- 
perintendent of the I-"oltz place. Under his effi- 
cient management marked improvements have 
been made on the estate. The grounds have 
been finely laiti out and beautified, and the 
new house has been built, the homestead being 
now one of the most attractive in the vicinity. 
On Innc 26, 1882, Mi'. .Snytier married Miss 
Mary O. Baker, who was born in Worcester, 
Otsego Covmtv, N. \'., one of the six children 
of Sherman S. ]5aker, a well-known cattle 
dealer of that town. Politically, Mr. Snyder 
is a straightforward Republican, interested in 
jniblic matters, and while in ALchigan served 
as Justice of the Peace. Fraternally, he is a 
thirty-second degree Mason, prominent in the 
order, and a member of Cobleskill Lodge, 
F. & A. M. ; the John L. Lewis Chapter, 
Cobleskill; St. (Jeorge's Conmiander)-, K. T., 
of Schenectady ; and Teni]ile Consistory, No. 
2, of Albany. He also belongs to Cobleskill 
Lodge, No. 500, I. O. C). F. In religious 
matters he is broad and liberal. 



rsll"ON. LMORY ALBERT CHASK, of 
Catskill, Justice of the Su])reme 
Court for the Thinl Judicial Dis- 
trict of New York, was born on August 31, 




BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



2Ti 



1854, at Hensonville, Greene County, N.Y. , 
where his parents, Alhert and Laura (Wood- 
worth) Chase, are still living. On the pater- 
nal side he is of English descent, and on the 
maternal of Scotch. 

The ancestral home of the Chase family was 
at Chesham, England. Thomas Chase, a 
jjromincnt resident of Chesham, had a son 
Richard, who married Joan 1-iishop at Chesham, 
April 16, 1564. This couple had a son 
Thomas, born at Chesham, \vho emigrated to 
America about the year 1639, and settled at 
Hampton, N. H. He married Elizabeth, a 
daughter of Thomas Philbrick, and remained 
in Hampton until his death in 1652. He had 
a son Isaac, born April i, 1647, ^^ho 's com- 
monly referred to as Lieutenant Isaac. This 
son married for his second wife Mary Tilton, 
and lived at Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vine- 
yard. He died there. May ig, 1727, and is 
buried on the hill overlooking the head of 
Vineyard Haven. 

Isaac Chase and his wife had a son Joseph, 
born February 26, 16S9, who married Lydia 
Coffin. Their first child, Abel, was born 
October g, 1719. He married February 14, 
1744, on Martha's Vineyard Island, Mercy 
Mayhew. They had a son Zephaniah, born 
March 14, 1748. He married for his first wife 
Abigail Skiff. Zephaniah Chase was a mem- 
ber of Captain Smith's seaport company during 
the Revolutionary War. After the close of the 
war and in the year 1787 he sold his proj^erty 
in Vineyard Haven and migrated to the pres- 
ent town of Lexington, Greene County, N. Y. , 
then County of Albany. His son Benjamin, 



born January 21, 1774, married Lydia Skiff, 
and had a son Albert, born January 4, 18 19. 

Albert Chase and Laura O. VVoodworth were 
married on September i, 1844. They have 
two sons, namely: Demont L., of Hensonville, 
N.Y. ; and Emory A., of Catskill, the special 
subject of this biography. Albert Chase was 
engaged for many years in contracting, build- 
ing, and lumbering. Since retiring he has 
lived on a farm. 

Most of the early life of Judge Chase was 
spent on his father's farm. He attended the 
public school at Hensonville, and continued 
his studies at the Foit luhvard Collegiate In- 
stitute, but did not graduate. He was fitted 
for the legal profession in the office of King & 
Hallock (Rufus H. King and Joseph Hallock) 
at Catskill. In April, 1S80, he became inter- 
ested in the firm of Hallock & Jennings; and 
in 1882 he became one of its members, the 
firm name being changed to Hallock, Jennings 
& Chase. After Mr. Hallock's retirement, 
September 22, i8go, the business was con- 
tinued under the style of Jennings & Chase 
until December, 1896, when it was dissolved 
in consequence of Mr. Chase's election as 
Justice of the Supreme Court for the Third 
Judicial District. In a district usually Dem- 
ocratic he was elected on the Republican 
ticket by a majority of about thirteen thou- 
sand. Since the ist of Januar)', 1897, he has 
devoted himself to the duties of that office. 

The jurisdiction of a Supreme Court |udge 
e.xtends throughout the State, but the judges 
are elected by districts. The Third District 
is composed of seven counties — Rensselaer,. 



278 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Albany, Schoharie, Columbia, Greene, Ulster, 
and Sullivan. Judge Chase has always been 
a Republican in politics, and up to the time 
of his election as a Suijrcme Court Uulge he 
attended as a delegate nearly e\ery town, 
county, district, and State convention of the 
Republican party. During his career at the 
bar he was constantly connected with impor- 
tant litigations in the Third Judicial District 
and other jKirts of the State. lie has been 
admitted to practice in the Ignited States Dis- 
trict and Circuit Courts and in the United 
States Supreme Court. 

Judge Chase has long been prominent in the 
local affairs of Catskill. He was a member of 
the Board of I{ducation for foiuteen years pre- 
vious to December, 1896, and for five years 
was its president. He served for a long period 
as corporation counsel of the village of Cats- 
kill, retiring from that office in 1895, and was 
Supervisor of the town of Catskill in 1890. 
He has also been conspicuously ideritified with 
several of the most representative local inter- 
ests. He is now first vice-president of the 
Catskill Savings 15aiik, a director in the Tan- 
ners' National Bank and in many other local 
enterprises. lie is a member of the Presby- 
terian church. 

Emory A. Chase married Mary E. Churchill 
on the thirtieth day of June, 1885. They 
have two children — Jessie Churchill Chase 
and Albert Woodworth Chase — and have a 
pleasant home at 25 Prospect Avenue. 

Allhciugh Judge Chase is one of the youngest 
men elected to the Su[ireme Court in this 
State, he has met with a very favorable recep- 



tion, as shown by the following resolutions 
and newspaper comments. 

At a meeting of the Schoharie County bar, 

held at the Surrogate's office in the village of 

Schoharie, the twenty-fifth day of January, 

1897, the following resolutions were nnani- 

■ mously adopted : — 

"Resolved, thai the bar of Schoharie County 
have watched with pleasure and approbation 
the holding of Judge Emory A. Chase's first 
trial term following his recent election, and 
they congratulate themselves that Schoharie 
County has had the privilege and honor, as 
well, of seeing him .start out in their midst of 
what we trust and e.\pect will be a long and 
distinguished judicial career. 

"Resolved, that, while hitherto he has been 
a stranger to many of us, yet we desire to 
testify to his jiatience and kindness; to his 
fairness, skill, and judicial abilit)-, as mani- 
fested in conducting the trial of causes; to the 
ease and facilil\' witli wiiich he has put off the 
lawyer and assumed the dignity of the judge; 
to his evident desire to be right and impartial 
in his rulings; and we congratulate the bar and 
the people of this State, and assure them that 
they have matle no mistake in elevating to the 
bench Judge Emory A. Chase. We e.xtend to 
him the pledge of our loyalty and friendship, 
and express the desire that he shall long con- 
tinue to wear the judicial ermine." 

From the Albany Daily Press Knicker- 
bocker : — 

"Judge Chase has won a \ery emiable repu- 
tation during his sitting for ability and in ex- 
pediting the administration of justice." 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



279 



From the Albany Times Union : — • 
■"It was the first term of Justice Chase in 
this city, and he has made a favorable impres- 
sion on the members of the bar in this county, 
not only as an honorable gentleman, but a fair 
and impartial lawyer, possessing extensive 
legal knowledge. 

From the Albany Alorning Express : — 
■'Justice Chase convened the March trial 
term of the Supreme Court on the first day of 
March. He came to Albany for the first time 
as a presiding justice, and was unknown to 
many members of the bar. He adjourned the 
term yesterday, and left the city, having won a 
reputation for judicial ability, fairness, and 
courtesy that is well deserved. 

■■Justice Chase has been a model presiding 
justice. He was confronted with a calendar of 
three hundred and forty-four cases, and during 
the three weeks of the term he disposed of 
sixty-six cases. Of this number twenty-six 
were settled, twenty-eight tried, eleven re- 
ferred, and a change of venue was made in one. 
This is a somewhat remarkable record; and, if 
other justices were as anxious to expedite busi- 
ness as is Justice Chase, many cases would not 
drag along in the courts for an extended period 
of time. " 

From the Albany Evening Journal : — 
"The Judge has proved himself to be one of 
the most popular men who ever have sat upon 
the bench in the court room in the City Hall." 
From the Albany Evening Journal : — 
"During the term just concluded Justice 
Chase has shown himself to be a model presid- 
ing officer. His first circuit has demonstrated 



him to be practically all that a judge should 
be." 

From the Troy Times : — 

"The Hon. Fmory A. Chase, of Catskill, 
Justice of the Supreme Court, has just finished 
his first trial term in Schoharie County. The 
term was highly successful, and Justice Chase 
was congratulated by the bar on the impartial- 
ity of the rulings and the fairness of his 
charges. Justice Chase has a fine command of 
language and a thorough knowledge of the 
rules of evidence. The opening of his judicial 
career fulfils the prophecy of his nomination. " 

From the Hudson Republican : — 

"The Hon. Emory A. Chase, of Catskill, 
Justice of the Supreme Court, Third Judicial 
Department, has accepted the invitation of tiie 
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in 
the First Department to hold a special term in 
New York City beginning May 17 and contin- 
uing until June 5. Justice Chase was chosen 
to the bench at the last election of a Supreme 
Court Justice in this judicial district, and he 
has already so thoroughly proved his efficiency 
as to warrant the high compliment which is 
contained in this invitation from the judiciary 
of New York City. Justice Chase has just 
finished holding a term of court at Hudson, 
where, as usual, his impartiality and judicial 
ability were praised by everybody. He is 
remarkably well fitted for the office which he 
fills, and it has not taken the courts, the liar, 
and the people long to find it out. " 

From the Troy Times : — 

"The term of the Supreme Court just clos- 
ing in this city has given the lawyers and the 



2So 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 



people an oppditunity to become acquainted 
witli tlie judicial qualities of the presiding 
justice, the Hon. Emory A. Chase, of Cats- 
kill. Acquaintance has meant admiration. 
In sitting as judge at civil and criminal trials 
of unusual magnitude Justice Chase has shown 
])nimptness, fairness, and mastery of tlie law 
and its |)rinciples that have assured tn iiini the 
place of a favorite in the esteem of the people 
hereabout. His future visits to this city in 
either a judicial or a social capacit)- will be 
cordially welcomed. " 

The Albany Express, s])eaking of the Octo- 
ber trial term of the Supreme Court, presided 
over by Judge Chase, says, " The term has 
been one of the longest and most satisfactory 
ever held in this county." 




^RTHR I. STANLEY, M.D.,anable 
jjhysician and a highly esteemed citi- 
zen of Windham, Greene County, 
r^.'. v., was born in Harpersfield, Delaware 
County, this State, on August ii, 1S25, son 
of Nathan antl Pamelia (Hogaboom) Stanley. 
His grandfather, l^ichard Stanley, came to 
New York State from New Jersey during the 
Revolutionary War, being among the farming 
pf)pulatinn of that colony who were so harassed 
by the Hessian troops brought over to re-en- 
force the British arm\' that they abandoned 
their homes. 

Richard Stanley, settling in the wilderness, 
cleared a farm in what is now the town of Gil- 
l)oa, Schoharie Count}-, where he resided for 
a number of years. His last days were sjient 



in Harpersfield. He was the father of three 
children. Information at hand does not locate 
for a certainty the birthplace of his son 
Nathan, the Doctor's father, but he was prob- 
ably reared in Schoharie County. He served 
as a soldier in the War of 1S12. 

Nathan Stanley accompanied his father to 
Harpersfield, and, succeeding to the ownership 
of the homestead, he resided there for the rest 
of his life. His wife, Pamelia Hogaboom, 
was a native of Prattsville, Greene County. 
She became the mother of fourteen chikhen, 
only three of whom are living, namely: John 
L., who is residing in Kansas; Peter I., the 
subject of this sketch ; and Jane, who married 
William Sampson. The parents both lived to 
be seventy-eight years old. They were origi- 
nally Presbyterians, but in their later years at- 
tentled the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Peter I. Stanley acquired his early education 
in the district schools and at the Stamford 
Acatlemy. He remained upon the home' farm 
until lie was twenty-one, when he went to 
work in a woollen factory, and continuetl in 
that employment (uie year. Deciding to enter 
professional life, he began the study of medi- 
cine at the age of twenty-two witli Dr. Cove), 
of Stamford, and completed his preparations at 
the Albany Medical College, from which he 
was graduated in 1S53. Locating in Ashland, 
he resided there for si.xteen years; and, as he 
was the onl_\- [jhysician in the town, he was 
kept constantly busy in attending to a large 
and lucrative practice, which extended over a 
wide circuit. At the earnest solicitation of 
the peojile ol Windham he in 1869 removed 




i'KTEK I. STANLEY. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



283 



to this town, where he has ever since found an 
ample field in which to demonstrate his ability 
and usefulness; and it may be truthfully said 
that the entire community has profited by his 
fidelity, promptitude, and skill. He has re- 
ported many interesting cases to the County 
Medical Society, of which he has been a mem- 
ber ever since its organization, some forty 
years ago; and he has several times been called 
upon to serve as its president. As his physi- 
cal powers remain unimpaired, he still con- 
tinues to take long rides; and the inhabitants 
of all this locality consider themselves fortu- 
nate in being able to reap the benefits arisiijg 
from his long experience as a practitioner. 

In 1853 Dr. Stanley was united in mar- 
riage with Sarah l^assett, a native of Harpers- 
field and a daughter of Joshua Bassett, a pros- 
perous farmer of that town. Dr. and Mrs. 
Stanley have had ten children, fi\'e of whom 
are living; namely, Ella M., Ada E., Joseph- 
ine A., Nathan Wilmcit, and Sarah Kathleen. 
Ella M. married J. C. Talmadge, a lawyer of 
Catskill, and has two children — Leone S. and 
N. Edna. Ada E. married Edgar C. Moon, 
a printer in New York City, and has two chil- 
dren — Vernon S. and Lena A. Josephine A. 
is the wife of Lawyer Mellon, a boot and shoe 
dealer in Windham, and has three children — 
Stanley H., Edith A., and Sheridan Wilmot. 
Nathan Wilmot Stanley is a ci\il engineer 
employed in the department of public works 
in New York City. Sarah Kathleen Stan- 
ley is an artist of local repute, her talent, 
which is of a high order, having been 
cultivated under comiietent instructors in 



New York. Of the other children one 
died in infancy; Belle and Charles died 
while 3-oung; Vernon C. died at the age 
of twenty-two years, while pursuing his medi- 
cal studies; and William Slieridan, who was 
a hardware merchant in Cairo, N. Y., died at 
the age of thirty-one years. The latter was 
also an artist of ability boih with the brush 
and needle. Among the dearly-prized prod- 
ucts of this genius is a piece of work five feet 
long and three feet wide, executed from an 
original design, and representing a deer in the 
forest on its way to drink. Another, which is 
a painting representing two admirably drawn 
dogs of different sizes, called "David and Go- 
liah," has received favorable comment from 
artists of note. 

Politically, Dr. Stanley is a Republican. 
He was a member of the Ashland Board of 
Supervisors in i860, has served as Town Clerk 
in Ashland for two years and as Coroner for 
the same length of time. He is a Chapter 
Mason, and formerly belonged to the Indepen- 
dent Order of Odd Fellows. For the past 
twenty-five years he has been a Pension Ex- 
aminer. 



fsi*|ACOB M. SNYDER, the genial, ac- 
commodating, and popular proprietor 
of the Snyder House at Gallupville, in 
the town of Wright, Schoharie County, was 
born in Berne, N.Y., May 6, 1837, a son of 
Peter I. Snyder. He is the worthy represent- 
ative of one of the early settled Dutch fami- 
lies of this section of the State. His grand- 
father, John Snyiler, and his great-grandfather, 



284 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Liidwig Snyder, natives of Holland, emigrated 
to America in Colonial days, and both served 
as soldiers in the Revolutionary army. 

John Snyder came with his jiarents to 
Schoharie when a young man, and with them 
settled in the unbroken woods. At the be- 
ginning of the Revolution he entered the 
Continental army, and on July 26, 1782, was 
carried as a prisoner to Canada. He there en- 
listed in the ]?ritish army, from which he very 
soon after made his escape, and returned to 
Schoharie. Here he was afterward engaged in 
agricultural pursuits until his decease, in 
1850. He married a Miss Dorstein. She 
died at an advanced age, after bringing up a 
large family of children. 

Peter I. Snyder was born on the homestead 
in Schoharie in 1802. Learning the trade of 
a shoemaker in his youth, he followed it for a 
time in Berne, Albany County. Returning 
to Schoharie, he lived there a while, and after 
that he was localetl in Gallupville as a shoe- 
maker a few years, and then he removed to 
Knox, Albany County, where he died at the 
age of sixty-seven years. He was a Democrat 
in his political affiliations, and served a.s an 
Overseer of the Poor. While a resident of 
Berne he united with the local lodge of Odd 
F'ellows, an organization in which he took 
great interest all his life. Both he ami his 
wife were active members of the Lutheran 
church. Her maiden name was Eva Dietz. 
She was born in the town of Berne of German 
parentage, being one of the fourteen children 
of John 15. Dietz. Eleven of these children 
grew to mature life, and the average age ot 



nine of them was seventy-nine years, a record 
for longevity seldom equalled. Of the seven 
children born to Peter I. and l-'va (Dietz) 
i Snyder four grew to years of maturity and two 
are now living, namely: Jacob M. ; and Eliza- 
beth, wife of Sidney Shufildt. The mother 
died December 12, 1885, aged eighty-two 
years. 

Jacob M. Snyder received his eaily educa- 
tion in the district schools of Berne, and after 
finishing his studies learned the shoemaker's 
trade, which he followed in Knox until 1863. 
Coming then to Gallupville, he opened a cus- 
tom shop, in which for twenty-two years he 
made shoes to order, being the pioneer of that 
line of industry in this region. In 1885 he 
purchased from the former owners, Twitchell 
& Collins, the old Collins House, to which he 
has since built an addition. It is now known 
as the Snyder House, has been entirely refur- 
nished, and is one of the best country hotels 
in this section of the State. Mr. Snyder also 
owns a livery stable, which lie carries on suc- 
cessfully in connection with his hotel. 

He is prominently identified with the Demo- 
cratic party of this locality, which he has rep- 
resented at various county conventions as a 
delegate. In 1891 and 1892 he was one of 
the Board of Supervisors, and for six years he 
has served as Town Clerk. 

On November 27, 1862, Mr. .Snyder mar- 
ried Julia Allen. She is a daughter of Syl- 
vester Allen, who was formerly a carpenter of 
Knox, Albany County, but is now successfully 
engaged in farming in that town. Seven 
children have been born of this union, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



285 



four of them are now living; namely, Jeffer- 
son, Edna, J. IVIiner, and Ursula. Jefferson, 
who married Nellie Becker, was for seven 
years connected with the Albany tlay line of 
steamboats, and for four years was connected 
with the management of Stanwix Hall in Al- 
bany, but is now proprietor of Hotel Berne in 
Berne, N.Y. 

Edna is the wife of Sanford D. Schell, a 
farmer in Gallupville, and has six children — 
Eva, Libbie, Hazel, Martin, Jefferson, and 
Howard. J. Miner, for four years connected 
with the Albany day line of steamers and 
now manager of the Snyder House, married 
Carrie Zimmer. Ursula is the wife of 
Charles E. Spateholts, a farmer of Wright. 
Mrs. Snyder is a Methodist in her religious 
belief and a regular attendant of the church 
of that denomination. 



'OSI'PH W. VAN SCHAICK, for many 
years a prominent farmer of Sharon, 
Schoharie County, was born in this 
town, June 5, 1S04, son of Koert and Margaret 
(Wilson) Van Schaick. He was a descendant 
in the fourth generation of Francis Van 
Schaick, one of three brothers who emigrated 
from Holland and settled in New Jersey. 
Francis Van Schaick died in New Jersey; and 
his son William, grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, settled in Glen, N. Y. , where he 
probably spent his last days. William Van 
Schaick married Patience Schenck, who also 
was of Dutch descent. 

Koert Van Schaick, father of Joseph W. , 



served in the Continental army during the 
Revolutionary War, several others of that name, 
who were relatives, being enrolled among the 
patriots. He came from Glen to Sharon some 
time between the years 1790 and 1796; and 
the title to the homestead, upon which his 
grand-daughter now resides, was issued in the 
latter year. He cleared a large farm, built 
the present residence, which is now about one 
hundred years old, and was favorably known 
throughout this locality. He lived to be over 
seventy years old. His wife, Margaret, who 
came from New Jersey, was of English and 
Scotch descent. She became the mother of 
nine children ; namely, Mary, Patience, Mar- 
garet, Josejih W., the subject of this sketch, 
Leffert G., Rachel, Sarah, James, and another 
.son who died in infancy. James, who served 
as an officer in an artillery company connected 
with the State militia, was accidentally killed 
by the premature discharge of a cannon at an 
election celebration in 1S44. He was unmar- 
ried. The other seven married, and had fam- 
ilies. 

Joseph W. Van Schaick succeeded to the 
homestead, which he occupied his entire life, 
and was one of the stirring farmers of his day. 
Though not an aspirant for public office, he 
was honored with election to various local 
positions of trust, serving acceptably as Super- 
visor of the town in 1849, and was highly es- 
teemeil for his many excellent qualities. He 
was a firm, stanch, and lifelong Democrat. 
He was a prominent member of the True Re- 
formed church of Sharon, anil by his liberality 
and lalior was instrumental in a great measure 



286 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in llie Iniildinj;' of the cliuich edifice. He 
clieil on /\pril 23, i<S8o, honored and esteemed 
by all who knew him. 

Jcseph W. Van Schaick married Elizabeth 
Slingerland, daii<(hter of Captain Jacob Sling- 
erland, of Hethlehem, Albany County, who died 
in 1890. Her father dieil when she was young, 
and she was reared in Sharon by an aunt. 
Mr. and Mrs. Van Schaick were the parents 
of eight children; namely, Koert, ]£lizabeth, 
Mary, Catharine, John, Slingerland, Sarah, 
and I'Juil)-. The eldest, who was a well- 
known singer and teacher, died at the age of 
thirty-three years, leaving one son, William, 
who is now residing in Rochester, N.Y. 
Slingerland died in California. Elizabeth, 
Mary, and Sarah are no longer living. lunily 
is the wife of Mr. \'an Schaick, of Mont- 
gomery County. John is an attorne}' in 
Cobleskill, and an e.\-Slate Senator. 

Miss Catharine Van Schaick is a graduate 
of the State Normal School at Albany. She 
was for several years a .successful teaclier, but 
gave up educational work in 1K83 in order to 
care for her mother. After the death of her 
mother in 1890, Miss Van Schaick took charge 
of the homestead; and, being a woman of good 
executive ability, she has managed the prop- 
erty energetically ever since. She ])ossesses 
literary tastes and attainments of a high order; 
and these, together with her excellent social 
qualities, endear her to a large number of 
friends and acquaintances. She is a strict ad- 
herent of the Dutch Reformed chinch. The 
house she occupies has long been consjiicuous 
as a landmark. it contains many relics in 



shape of family utensils used by her grandpar- 
ents; also the Revolutionary musket, with its 
highly prized date of 1776 engraved thereon, 
and the old sword hanging idly in its scabbard 
high up on the wall. 

The Van Schaick family are sturdy-going 
Americans, and in e\ery generation men of 
this name have gone forth to serve their coun- 
try upon the battlefield anil in the council 
chambers of the government. The family 
cherish the traditions of Alkmaar, Leyden, 
Brill, and the Heggars of the Sea. They rev- 
erence the memory of William of Orange and 
I'rince Maurice, under whom their ancestors 
fought the Spanish tyrant. Ihii they have 
transplanted these memories anti traditions to 
American soil, and are thorough j)atriots. 
Down to the latest generation the strong qual- 
ities of the race have descended. The recent 
appointment of Ix)uis J. Wan Schaick, son of 
ex-Senator Van Schaick, to a .Second Lieuten- 
ancy in the United States regular army, 
marks the beginning of another career which 
bids fair to be an honored antl a useful one. 




TEriH'N P. HALLOCK, of Cox- 

sackie, N.Y. , dealer in provisions, 
grain, hay, and straw, was born in 
New lialtimorc, N.Y., on March 5, 1838, his 
parents being Joseph '/.. and I'JKebe ^Herrick) 
Hallock. His paternal grandfather, Zebulon 
Hallock, was either born in New Baltimore 
or came there as a child in the early days of 
its settlement. He was a tanner and shoe- 
maker, and worked at those trades all his life. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



=87 



He died at the age of seventy-two. His wife 
was before lier marriage Sally S. Kidmore. 
They had a large family of children. 

Joseph Z. Hallock was a farmer. He spent 
all his life in New Baltimore, and died there 
on January 28, 1899, at the age of eighty-four 
years. He was a prominent citizen in his 
town and a farmer on a large scale. He was 
a member for sixty-four years of the Christian 
church, and held leading offices in the church. 
His wife, Fhcebe, was born in New Baltimore, 
daughter of John Herrick, a well-known 
farmer of that town. She is still living at the 
age of eighty-two. Of the five children that 
have been born to her, four are living, 
namely : Stephen P. ; Andrew, who resides at 
the Upper Village; Leander; and Charles, 

Stephen P. Hallock received a practical ed- 
ucation in the public schools of his native 
town. The first twenty-four years oi his life 
were spent on his father's farm, and at the 
end of that time he came to Coxsackie, and 
entered the dry-goods store of Collier & Van 
Vliet as clerk. Three years later he pur- 
chased Mr. Van Vliet's interest in the busi- 
ness, and the firm became Collier & Hallock. 
This partnership continued until 1880, when 
Mr. Hallock sold out to Mr. Wolf, and bought 
out the grocery business of David Hallock. 
He was then located on the opposite side of 
the street, but a few years after he bought out 
Piatt Coonley's business, with his entire stock 
of groceries and- provisions, and then removed 
to his present stand. In 1896 his son Roscoe 
was admitted to partnership in the business. 
This is the largest grocery in Greene County, 



carrying on besides its immense retail trade a 
large wholesale department. Mr. Hallock is 
the oldest grocer in the town, and in course 
of his long Inisiness career he has seen many 
changes in the village and a great increase in 
population. 

Mr. Hallock was married in 1864 to Carrie 
Webber, who was born in this town, daughter 
of William Webber. She is of Holland de- 
scent on her grandfather's side, her grand- 
mother having been a native of Connecticut. 
Her father spent his life on a farm in this 
town, and was not only a farmer but the lead- 
ing auctioneer of Coxsackie. He was a promi- 
nent Democrat, and held a nrunber of town 
and county offices, among them being that of 
county superintendent of the almshouse at 
Cairo. His death occurred at the age of 
seventy. He and his family attended the 
Dutch Reformed church. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Elizabeth Vermillia, was 
born in Coxsackie. She died at the age of 
seventy-five, having been tiie mother of seven 
children — Christina, Millisson, Robert, 
Carrie, John W., Addie, and Sallie. Of these 
two are deceased, namely: Millisson, who 
married J. H. Brandow ; and Robert. Chris- 
tina, who is a widow, married for her first hus- 
band Richard Halstead and for her second 
husband Richard Cornwall. Addie is the 
wife of O. T. Schermerhorn, of Cairo, and 
Sallie married J. O. Cornwall. Mrs. Hal- 
lock's paternal grandmother lived to be nintty- 
two years of age, dying on the farm where her 
son William was born and where he livetl and 
died. Mr. and Mrs. Hallock have an only 



288 



BIOGRAPHICAT, REVIEW 



child, Roscoe, who has always been in his 
father's store except tluring the four years 
when he was Assistant Postmaster. He 
bought an interest in liie business in the 
spring of 1896. 

Mr. Hal lock is a Rciniblican and a strong 
advocate of the principle of ]irotection. He 
has serveil many years on the Hoaril of Educa- 
tion, for several terms as Trustee and Treas- 
urer of the village, and has always taken an 
active part in all public matters. He was one 
of the most earnest promoters of the beautiful 
new school-house, which was erected at a cost 
of thirty thousand dollars. I'^or more than 
thirty years he has been a member of the Sec- 
ond Reformetl Church, of which also his wife 
and son are members. Mr. Roscoe Hallock 
is a member of Ark Lodge, F. & A. M., of 
Coxsackie. Although Mr. llallock's best ener- 
gies have been given to his store, he haS found 
time to devote to other business interests. 
For a number of years he o|)erated the Hallock 
steam-mill and the foundry connectetl with 
it. This was started by his brother Havid, 
who erected the buildings, but the plant was 
burnetl in 1S92. It was an imjiortant indus- 
try in Coxsackie for many years. y\t one time 
Mr. Hallock carried on a feed, grain, and salt 
business at West Coxsackie. During early 
life, lor a number of years, he taught school 
in the winter time. 




HUGlCNh: ]■:. IRJVVT-:, a rising young 
lawyer of (jilboa, was born in South 
Londonderry, V't., May 22, 1867, son of 



I'"hvin A. and Jennie (Walker) Howe. He 
is a descendant on both sides of early arrivals 
at Plymouth, Mass., and his paternal grand- 
father was prominently identified with the 
public affairs of Vermont in his day. Elwin 
A. Howe enlisted as a private at the breaking 
out of the Civil War, and was later commis- 
sioned Captain of a company belonging to the 
One Hundred and Eighth United States In- 
fantry, a colored regiment. After the war he 
engaged in the wooden-ware business in Lud- 
low, Vt., becoming one of the princijial stock- 
holders in a large enterprise known as the 
Ludlow Toy Manufacturing Company, of 
which he was superintendent. lie is widely 
and favorably known throughout the Green 
Mountain State as a leading Re]iublican, hav- 
ing served four years in the lower house and 
two years in the State Senate. He was for- 
merly Postmaster of Ludlow and superintend- 
ent of the water-works. He married Jennie 
Walker, a representative of a highly reputable 
Vermont family and a sister of the Hon. Will- 
iam H. Walker, a prominent lawyer, who 
served in both branches of the legislature antl 
as a Justice of the Su|jreme Court. Mr. and 
Mrs. Elwin A. Howe have had six sons and 
three daughters, all of whom are studiously 
inclined, and are making good use of the lib- 
eral education which it has been their good 
fortune to receive. 

Eugene K. Howe pursued his preparatory 
course at the Hlack River Academy, Ludlow, 
and was graduated at Middlebury College 
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in i.SSS. 
lie was one of the honor men of his class, and 




I). 1!. llllLllCOCK. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



291 



belongs to the various college fraternities. 
In 1887 he was appointed official reporter for 
the Vermont legislature, holding that office 
for four years in the House and two years in 
the Senate. His law studies were begun in 
the office of Batchelder & Barber, of Vermont ; 
and, while pursuing the regular course at the 
Albany Law School, his spare time was spent 
in the office of the Hon. Alden Chester, of 
that city. He was admitted to the bar in 
1891, and, beginning the practice of his pro- 
fession in company with J. S. Frost, he re- 
mained in Albany some four years, during 
which time he figured in several important 
cases. In 1895, at the advice of friends, he 
came to Gilboa, where he has already estab- 
lished a large general law business, and has 
become a familiar figure in the courts of 
Schoharie, Greene, and Delaware Counties. 
He is a forcible advocate and a fluent speaker, 
is familiar with court procedure; and these 
essential qualities, together with the ability he 
displays in preparing his cases, give ample 
evidence of the brilliant future which has 
been predicted for him. In politics he is a 
Republican. 

Mr. Howe married Florence Eaton, daugh- 
ter of William Eaton, a successful business 
man and highly respected citizen of West Ar- 
lington, Vt. Her father's people were na- 
tives of Vermont, and her mother's family 
were from the South. She is a graduate of 
the State Normal School at Albany, attended 
the Emerson School of Oratory, Boston, and 
was a successful teacher previous to her mar- 
riage. Of this union there are sons, Eugene 



S. and Carroll E. , and a daughter Marion. 
Mr. and Mrs. Howe are members of the Dutch 
Reformed church. 



M 



WIGHT B. HITCHCOCK, a retired 
1^ ■ business man of Windham, was born 
in this town on February 3, 1830, 
being the son of Lucius and Eveline (Hayes) 
Hitchcock. He is a grandson of Lemuel 
Hitchcock, a native of Connecticut, who was 
one of the pioneer settlers of Greene County, 
coming first to Durham. 

Later Lemuel Hitchcock removed to that 
part of Windham known as Big Hollow, where 
he settled, and subsequently remained until his 
death, at the age of seventy-five. He had ten 
children. His first home here was a log 
cabin; but later, as increasing prosperity at- 
tended him, he erected a large frame house. 
He was one of the prominent men in this part 
of Greene County, and during the Revolution 
served the country as a military officer, hold- 
ing the rank of Lieutenant. 

Lucius Hitchcock was born in Durham. 
He was brought up on a farm, and all his life 
was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He 
built a house in Big Hollow near that of his 
father, and there made his home to the end of 
his days. In politics he was a Republican, 
and in religious faith he followed the teach- 
ings of his father and was a member of the 
Presbyterian church. His wife, Eveline, who 
died at the age of forty-si.x, was born in 
Granby, Mass., and was one of a family of ten 
children. Her father, Luther Hayes, who was 



292 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



a saddler of that town, settled eventually in 
Durham, where he died at the age of eighty 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Hitchcock were 
the parents of five children. Four of these are 
living, namely: Dwight B. ; Piatt O. ; Har- 
riet, who married the late George P. Townsend, 
of Windham; and William. 

Dwight B. Hitchcock livcil with his parents 
in Pig Hollow, and helped on the home farm 
until he was twenty-one years of age, when he 
began working out by the month. His habits 
were frugal. He saved his wages, and event- 
ually bought a farm near his father's. There 
he remained ten years. He then removed to 
Ashland, and, in company with Mr. R. L. 
Parsons, bought nut a store, where he carried 
on business for five years. Selling out at the 
end of that time, he came to Windham and 
went into partnership with John Patterson. 
After twelve years of successful enterprise he 
retired from business. Mr. Hitchcock's place 
is one of the finest in Windham. It is known 
as the Colonel Robertson homestead. 

Mr. Hitchcock has been twice married. 
His first wife, whose maiden name was Julia 
Atwatcr, died in her thirtieth year. She was 
born in ]5ig Hollow. Her father, .\lfred At- 
water, farmed for some time in Big Hollow, 
later for twenty years in Windham, and finally 
removed to Colorado, where he died. Mrs. 
Julia A. Hitchcock was the mother of two 
children, neither of whom is living. She was 
a devoted member of the Presbyterian cliLuxh. 

Mr. Hitchcock's second wife, also a native 
of Windham, was before her marriage .Sarah 
R. Barney. Her parents were Ahira and 



Lydia (Robertson) Barney, and her grandpar- 
ents were Aaron and Rebecca (Saxton) Barney. 
Her grandfather, Aaron, was a native of New 
Hampshire, but came to Windham in early 
manhood and began work as a journeyman car- 
penter, settling near the \illage. He lived to 
a good old age. He is well remembered as 
the builder of the tanneries in this section. 
Rebecca, his wife, dieil at the age of thirty- 
four years, having been the mother of three 
children. She was a n.iti\e of Rensselaer- 
ville, of which place her ]xirents were early 
settlers. 

Ahira Barnev, who diet! in his sexenticth 
year, carried on a farm where the cemetery 
now lies. He was a lifelong resident of this 
locality, having been boin in the town and 
reared in the village. His wife, Lydia, was a 
daughter of Colonel James Robertson, who was 
one of the first to take up and clear land in the 
town of Windham. He was a prominent man 
in these parts, very active in all public affairs. 
He died at the age of seventy-eight. Of his 
eight children two are living: James, of Os- 
wego County, New York ; and Elbert, who re- 
sides in Washington, D. C. Mrs. Lydia R. 
Barney died at the age of eighty-one. Of her 
four children one son, I-^lbert, died in 1 8g6, 
and the other, .Samuel, died at the age of 
twelve years. The living are: Mrs. Hitch- 
cock and Mrs. L. V. Bri.sack. Mrs. Hitch- 
cock's ])arents and grandparents were members 
of the Presbyteiian chui'ch. 

Politically, Mi'. Hitchcock is a Republican. 
He has always taken an active share in local 
matters and in all questions of public interest. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



293 



He and Mrs. Hitchcock are members of the 
Presbyterian church and active workers in that 
body. Mr. Hitchcock is an Elder of the 
church. 




TANTON COURTER, a well- 
// "^ known nianutacturer and builder of 
Cobleskill, N.Y. , was born in this 
town, Eebruary 23, 1839. His father, the 
late Charles Courter, was for many years an 
influential resident of Cobleskill. His pater- 
nal grandfather, Ralph Courter, who was born 
and bred in Germany, came to America, and, 
after livinsj a short time in New Jersey, re- 
moved to Schoharie, where he engaged in the 
manufacture of shoes. 

Charles Courter, one of a family of seven 
children, spent his early life in Schoharie, 
but when a young man began work on his own 
account in Middleburg as clerk in a store. 
Going thence to Lawyersville, he there en- 
gaged in business until his removal to Cobles- 
kill, in 1837. He subsequently assisted in 
building the Albany & Susquehanna railway, 
of which he was for many years a director. 
He also built many fine brick blocks in Cobles- 
kill; but after the disastrous fire of 1873, in 
which he lost heavily, he practically retired 
from active pursuits, although he retained real 
estate interests until his death, which occurred 
in 1879, at the age of threescore and ten 
years. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, 
and served as one of the village trustees a 
number of years. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Helen Lawyer, was born in Law- 
yersville, and was a daughter of Thomas 



Lawyer, a lifelong resident of that town. 
She died at the age of si.xty-eight years. 
Both parents were attendants of the Lutheran 
church. Five of their children survive; 
namely, Josephine, Stanton, Henrietta, Cor- 
delia, and Helen C. 

Stanton Courter in his youth attended acad- 
emies at .Schoharie and Fort Plain, and was 
afterward graduated from the Buffalo Commer- 
cial College. ]5efore attaining his majority 
he went to Chicago, where his father had been 
instrumental in establishing the extensive 
lumber firm of C. Courter & Co., which dealt 
in lumber manufactured in its own mills in 
the timber districts of Michigan. He was 
there for a time in the employ of that com- 
pany, and going thence to Milwaukee, Wis., 
he was connected with the extensive railway 
operators, Rogers, Courter & Co., until they 
sold the Milwaukee & Western Railroad to 
the St. Paul Railway Company, when he be- 
came confidential secretary of Sherburne S. 
Merrill, manager of the road under the new 
officials. In 1864 Mr. Courter returned to 
Cobleskill, and for eleven years was first 
cashier of the First National Bank, which he 
and his father had established. The follow- 
ing three years he spent in Pensacola, Fla., 
looking after the lumber interests of his father 
in that State. The Florida property being 
then sold to an Plnglish syndicate, Mr. Courter 
again returned to his native town, and on the 
death of his father succeeded him in business, 
becoming owner of the manufacturing plant of 
Courter & Overpaugh. With characteristic 
enterprise he has almost entirely rebuilt the 



294 



BlOGRAPJllCAL REVIEW 



original works, and now has a large factory 
finely equipped witli modern machinery and 
appliances. In addition to turning out vast 
amounts of dressed lumber and Ini i id ing ma- 
terials of all kinds each year, he manufactures 
furniture of all descriptions, and as a con- 
tractor for buildings has erected some of the 
finest residences in this part of the county. 
His own dwelling, on the corner of Main and 
Grand Streets, is a spacious Colonial man- 
sion, with large rooms and halls and high 
ceilings. 

Mr. Courter also built the Cobleskill elec- 
tric light plant, which has proved of inesti- 
mable value as a means of lighting the 
village, the corporation, and the residences of 
the town. Fraternally, he is a Mason, be- 
longing to Cobleskill Lodge, F. & A. M. ; 
and to John L. Lewis Chapter, R. A. M. 




)UCIUS A. WOODWORTH, proprie- 
tor of the Ripley House in Hunter, 
was born in Jewett on January i8, 
1833, his parents being Abner and Sophronia 
(Judson) Woodworth. The family, wliich is 
of Scotch descent, was a pioneer one of 
Jewett, living there first in a log cabin and 
clearing the wild forest land. Mr. Wood- 
worth's grandfather, Lemuel Woodworth, was 
born in Jewett, and lived there to a good old 
age. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Lydia Winters, lived to be seventy-five years 
old. Their children were as follows: David; 
Alanson ; Hiram; Lemuel; Reuben, who died 
young; Lydia, who married a ■'"uUer; Nancy, 



who married a I'"airchild; ajid Sally, who mar- 
ried a Slater. 

Abner Woodworth was born in Jewett. He 
was reared on a farm, and was interested in 
agricultural labors as long as he lived. When 
about eighteen years of age he became the 
owner of a farm, and this he carried on until 
his death, a period of neai ly sixty years. He 
was a very earnest Christian man and an ac- 
tive worker in the Methodist church, of which 
he and iiis wife were members. Mrs. So- 
phronia Woodworth, who died at the age of 
forty-seven, was born in Jewett. She was the 
daughter of Dr. Judson, an old-time [)hysician 
of Windham, who is believed to have come 
from Hartford, Conn. Abner anil Sophronia 
Woodworth were the parents of six children. 

Lucius Woodworth lived with his parents 
until he was twenty-one years old. He was 
educated in the common schools and at I""er- 
gusonville Collegiate Institute. He taught 
school one winter in Hunter, and worked in 
this vicinity at carpentering with his brother- 
in-law during the summer. At twenty-one 
years of age he went out to Wisconsin, where 
he stayed for three years, working at his trade 
in the summers. One winter he taught school 
at I'",lkhorn, in that State; one winter he at- 
tended school; and the third he worked in a 
sho|-). In 1861, in company with two other 
men, he started for Colorado, journeying in 
his own conveyance, which was a large covered 
emigrant wagon. The distance was eleven 
hundreil miles. Indians were often seen, but 
they were not hostile, and the tri]) was made 
in safety. Arriving in Denver, Mr. Wood- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



29s 



wortli remained tliere a short time, and then 
went lip to ]?lack Hawl<, forty miles fartlier, 
into the mining region. There for a year he 
was engageil in building quartz-mills, and at 
the end of that time he became himself pro- 
prietor of a mill, which he operated for the 
next three years. The country was then al- 
most a wilderness, ami this mill was one of 
the first started in that locality. At the end 
of three years he sold out his mill and re- 
turned East, but only to remain for a short 
time. The Western fever was on him strong, 
and he returned to Wisconsin and purchased 
a farm. Not long after he had an opportunity 
to go to Nashville, Tenn., to do carpentering 
for the Northern army; and, when some time 
later he returned to Wisconsin, he sold out 
his farm and decided to push on farther west 
to Montana. Going down to Chicago, he 
bought twenty mules, loaded a wagon train 
with freight, and started westward. The 
freight was to be delivered in Denver. This 
was in the dead of winter, and the undertaking 
was most perilous. For two months Mr. 
Woodworth travelled without seeing a spark 
of fire, except for cooking purposes. But he 
reached Denver safely, delivered his load, and 
then returned to Council Bluffs, where he 
hired his mules kept until spring opened. 
Then securing a load in Omaha for Denver, he 
carried it out there, a distance of six hundred 
miles, and upon delivering it reloaded in 
Denver for Salt Lake City. After covering 
the eleven hundred miles, he camped for about 
ten days, and then sold out his mule train, 
and went to work for another man to drive a 



freight team to Helena, Mont. With a 
wagon drawn by four mules he traversed the 
five hundred miles in twenty-five days. Ar- 
tisans were scarce in Montana, and Mr. Wood- 
worth went to work at his old trade, building 
a mill, and receiving in payment his board 
and ten dollars a day in gold. After a time 
he formed a partnership with a Mr. Hen- 
dricks, bought a quartz mine and put up a 
quartz-mill, which he operated for three years. 
Upon selling out his own business he took 
charge of a quartz-mill for Daler & Larkey at 
Iron Rod, on Jefferson River, and was super- 
intendent there for si.x years. In 1883, after 
a varied and hazardous experience in journey- 
ing through the Far West, he returned East, 
and the following year began business at his 
present occupation. The hotel of which he 
is now proprietor was built in 18S6. It has 
accommodations for fifty guests, and during 
the summer months he has a large number 
of boarders. Since 1883 he has conducted a 
livery stable, having been the first man in 
town to open one. 

Mr. Woodworth has been twice married. 
The first Mrs. Woodworth was born in Big 
Hollow, and her maiden name was Adele 
Hitchcock. She was the daughter of Anson 
Hitchcock, a leading farmer of Big Hollow. 
Her death occurred at the age of thirty. The 
second Mrs. Woodworth was born in New 
York City, her maiden name being Mary Ran- 
son. She was one of a family of four chil- 
dren, the others being: Gussie, whomariied 
John Coreja; Addle, who lives in Brooklyn; 
and Georgiana, who married Bert Allen. 



296 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mrs. Mary Woodworth died at the age of 
thirty -five. She was a member of the Metho- 
dist church. Mr. Woodworth has one daugh- 
ter, Ada C. 

Politically, Mr. Woodworth is a Republi- 
can. I-'or two years he was a member of the 
Board of Education, and in 1 <S94 he was As- 
sessor. He is one of the most jiopular men in 
Hunter and one of the most popular landlords 
in this section of the State. He is a man of 
remarkable intrepidity, as shown by his dar- 
ing journeyings in the West. 




'rank a. chapman, proprietor of 
Hotel Chapman at Blenheim, Schoharie 
County, N.Y. , may be spoken of as an ideal 
landlord, being active, enterprising, and at 
all times obliging and pleasant. He was born 
in the nearby town of Fulton, June 25, 1871, 
a son of Moses L. Chapman, a lifelong resi- 
dent of that place. 

His paternal grandfather, Jacob Chapman, 
was born in Rensselaerville, Albany County, 
and lived there after marriage. Removing 
then to Fulton, he bought a large tract of 
timbered land at Bouck's Falls, where he 
cleared and improved a homestead, and passed 
his remaining days, dying at the advanced age 
of eighty-eight years. He was prominently 
connected with tiie Methodist church of that 
place, in which he served in various oiificial 
positions. His wife, Huldah Wynans, a na- 
tive of Cooksburg, N.V., bore him eleven 
children, of whom seven are living, being, 



with one exception, residents of Schoharie 
County. They are: Spencer, a farmer at 
Bouck's Falls; Nancy C, wife of Chauncey 
.Shattuck, of Michigan; Maria Mann, of 
Breakabeen ; Moses L. ; James 1'., ex-Super- 
visor of Middleburg; Elizabeth L. , wife of 
Dr. Holmes: and William W., of IJouck's 
Falls, ex-Supervisor of I'ulton. 'I'he de- 
ceased are: Adam, late of Bouck's Falls; 
Harriett E. ; Isabella, deceased, who married 
Hiram Ackerson ; and Dr. Peter L. 

Moses L. Chapman remained at the paren- 
tal homestead until he was of age, and then 
engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own 
account. He bought a large farm in P'ulton, 
on which he made substantial improvements, 
including the erection of a new set- of build- 
ings, and was there successfully employed as 
a general farmer until his death, at the com- 
paratively early age of forty-two years. He 
was a Democrat in politics and an active 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to 
which his wife also belonged; and both were 
interested in its Sunday-school. He married 
Huldah A. Beartl, tlaughter of Jacob and Ade- 
line (Phillips) Beard. Her parents were 
wealthy members of the farming community 
of Richmondvillc. They reared three chil- 
dren, namely: Sarah, who married Judge 
Holmes, for twelve years Judge of Schoharie 
County; Huldah A.: and John. Mrs. lieard 
dietl at the age of forty-five years, and Mr. 
Beard afterward removed to Genesee County, 
where he attained the venerable age of ninety 
years. Of the nine children born to the par- 
ents, six are still living, as follows: William 




DAMi-.L D. FKISIUE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



299 



H.; the Hon. Charles Chapman, a member of 
the Assembly; Ida, wife of J. S. Hunt, of 
Boston ; Frank A. ; Flora, of Boston ; and 
Dora. Hattie is deceased. The mother 
passed to the life beyond when fifty-five years 
of age. 

Frank A. Chapman was but eight years old 
when his father died. He remained at home 
until after completing his education in the 
schools of West Fulton and Blenheim, and 
then came to his present hotel as a clerk for 
his brother, a capacity in which he remained 
two years. Going then to Worcester, Mass., 
he was an attendant at the as)'lum for the in- 
sane three years. In 1893 Mr. Chapman re- 
turned to Blenheim and purchased the hotel, 
which he has since conducted with eminent 
success. He has enlarged the building, 
partly refurnished it, made substantial im- 
provements in and around it, and has now a 
model public house, the leading one in this 
section of the State. It is well adapted for 
the entertainment of guests from the city. 
Connected with it is a first-class livery, with 
a number of horses of good qualities, one pair 
especially being the finest of any in the vicin- 
ity. Mr. Chapman has hatl charge for some 
time of the stage line between Middlebnrg 
and Gilboa, and also of the line from the 
latter place to Grand Gorge, si.\ miles be- 
yond, and has the contract for carrying the 
mails between these places. 

On December 28, 1893, Mr. Chapman mar- 
ried Elizabeth M. Ross, who was born in 
Littleton, Me., a daughter of Joseph and 
Hester (Weeks) Ross. Her mother was born 



in St. John, N. B. Mrs. Chapman was edu- 
cated at the Ricker Classical Institute in 
Houlton, Aroostook County, Me., and pre- 
vious to her marriage she taught school in 
that town. Mr. Chapman is a Democrat in 
politics, and a member of the Middleburg 
Tribe of Red Men and of Gilboa Lodge, F. & 
A. M. Mr. antl Mrs. Chapman are both 
members of the Eastern Star Lodge, F. & 
A. M., of Gilboa. 



.» 



ANIEL D. FRISBIE, editor and 
l5) I proprietor of the Schoharie Rcpnbli- 
can, was born in Middleburg, his 
present home, on November 30, 1859. Son 
of Grandison Norton and Kate (Dodge) Fris- 
bie, he is the representative of a family that 
has done much to promote the industrial, edu- 
cational, and political advancement of this 
county. The family traces its line back to 
New England ancestry, and two of its early 
members in this country bore officers' commis- 
sions and served with distinction in the Con- 
tinental army during the Revolution. A bio- 
graphical sketch of Grandison Norton Frisbie 
appears on another page of this volume. 

The Dodge family were among the early 
settlers of the county, coming from New Eng- 
land and becoming allied by marriage with 
the good old L)utch stock, of which Colonel 
Zelie, of Revolutionary fame, was the best 
early representative, and the Hon. Daniel 
Danforth Dodge, grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, was later the most prominent, 
having represented this county in the State 



300 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



legislature and attained the greatest success 
as a merchant and financier. 

Daniel D. I'risbic was educated in the 
schools of his native town and at Hartwick 
Seminary, one of the oldest seats of learning 
in the State. At the latter institution he 
laid the foundation of a thorough, broad, and 
liberal education, developing marked literary 
tastes, wiiich in after years found opportunity 
in journalism for employment. In the Philo- 
phronean Society, of whicli he became presi- 
dent, were brought out an aptitude for debate 
and the qualities which have since made him 
an easy, graceful, and forceful public speaker. 

On the completion of his course at the sem- 
inary, he entered actively upon a business 
career which has proved singularly successful. 
He accepted a clerkship in the store of his 
father in the spring of 1876, and continued in 
that capacity until 188 1, when lie was ad- 
mitted to partnership. Later the firm became 
G. N. Frisbie & Sons by the admission of his 
brother. In 1892 the senior retired, and the 
firm became D. D. & G. D. Frisbie, continu- 
ing thus until April i, 1899, when a multi- 
plicity of business cares lead the subject of 
this sketch to retire in favor of his brother-in- 
law, Nathaniel IMaiining, Jr. During the 
twenty-three years of his connection with 
the business he had the satisfaction of seeing 
the modest country store develop into a modern 
department store, the largest, perhaps, in the 
county in ])oiiit of sales and stock carried, and 
widely known for its exact and honorable 
methods. 

Believing that it is the duty of every citizen 



to take an intelligent interest in public 
affairs, Mr. Frisbie, within a year after at- 
taining his majority, was made president of 
the local Democratic Club in the fall of 1882, 
and again in 1884, when Mr. Cleveland car- 
ried New York and won the Presidency for his 
party. It is worthy of remark that the town 
of Middleburg in those years rolletl up the 
largest Democratic majorities in a decade. 
In 18S6-87 he was a member and treasurer of 
the Democratic County Committee, rendering 
valuable service. P'or several years he has 
served as chairman of the Town Committee of 
his party. Mr. Frisbie has never held a po- 
litical office, but his services in behalf of the 
Democratic party have been so conspicuous for 
so many years tliat he has been i)rominently 
mentioned for member of Assembly; and, if 
merit meets with due reward in old Schoharie, 
he will soon be thus honored. 

Seeking a wider opportunity for the advo- 
cacy of his political principles and for the 
exercise of literary tastes, he purchased, Au- 
gust, 1887, the Schoharie Republican, of the 
estate of A. A. Hunt. The paper was estab- 
lished in 18 19 by Derrick Van Vechten, and 
is probably the second oldest in the State. 
In January, 1896, its size was enlarged, and 
its circulation has increased threefold under 
the present management. Its columns are 
rich with the best reading of the day, and its 
hop reports are regarded as thoroughly reli- 
able and com[)rehensive. As an advertising 
medium it unc|uestionably takes the lead, as 
its circulation is [iriiicipally among the large 
purchasing classes of tlie .Schoharie valley. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



301 



Politically, the Republican is soundly and un- 
equivocally Democratic. It was established as 
a Democratic organ, and has always been true 
to its first principles. Its editorials are often 
quoted in the leading papers of the State, and 
it is regarded as in every way the equal of the 
best coimty-seat papers to be found in the 
Commonwealth. In 1894 the seventy-fifth 
anniversary of its founding was celebrated; 
and upon that occasion Mr. Frisbie purchased 
the three-story block in the central part of 
Schoharie, and made it the permanent home of 
the paper. The editorial ofifices are on the 
first floor, as are also the mechanical and job 
printing departments. The composing-rooms 
are on the second floor. 

The esteem in which Mr. Frisbie is held 
by his brethren of the press is shown by his 
election in 1898 as second vice-president of 
the Democratic State Editorial Association. 
He is also a member of the State Editorial 
Association, a non-partisan organization. 

In recognition of his interest in the cause 
of education, Mr. Frisliie was in 1893 ap- 
pointed treasurer of Middleburg High School, 
and was reappointed for a second term. In 
1895 he was elected a member of the Board of 
lulucation, and re-elected in 1898. Since 
September, 1897, he has been president of the 
board. In concert with his associates, the 
school has been advanced to a proud position 
among the educational institutions of the 
State, its finances strengthened, and the num- 
ber of its students increased. 

In 1894, when the business men and farmers 
of the interior counties felt severely the exac- 



tions of the stock fire insurance companies, 
Mr. Frisbie assisted, with others interested, 
in the formation of the Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company, became one of its directors and a 
member of its Executive Committee. In 
1897 the necessity arose for another company 
in this county, and the Merchants' and 
F'armers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company was 
organized, with Daniel D. h'risbie as presi- 
dent. The company during its two years' 
existence has saved thousands of dollars to its 
policy holders, and has accumulated a sub- 
stantial surplus. In time it promises to be- 
come one of the strongest institutions of the 
county. 

Mr. I'risbie is a director of the Midtlleburg 
& Schoharie Railroad Company, and since 
1894 has been its secretary and a member of 
its Finance Committee. He is identified 
with St. Mark's Lutheran Church, was for five 
years superintendent of its Sunday-school, 
and is at present its financial secretary. Of 
fraternal orders he is a member of Middleburg 
Lodge, No. 663, F". & A. M. ; and is also a 
Past .Sachem of Oucongena Tribe, I. O. R. M., 
No. 242. He is also president of the Colum- 
bian Literary Union Association, which was 
an inspiration to young men in Middleburg 
for many years, and holds its reunion, Janu- 
ary I, 1900. He is a hop-grower, and has 
done much, through his paper and otherwise, 
to advance the interests of the growers of the 
county. 

The latest enterprise to engage the atten- 
tion of the subject of this sketch, and one that 
he hopes to utilize largely for the public good, 



3°2 



BIOGRAl'H ICAL REVIEW 



is tlic mills and water privik't;e located mid- 
way between Middlelnir;;- and Schoharie, 
which he acquired April I, 1899. The mills 
are being improved by the addition of modern 
machinery, and their capacity greatly in- 
creased. Under the l^'risbic Milling Com- 
pany the business will be extended, and a 
good market afforded farmers for their grain. 
Mr. l'"risl)ie also has in mind the establish- 
ment of an electric plant, to be ojierated by 
water power, whereby the people of Middleburg 
and Schoharie may have the benefit in their 
business places, streets, and homes of that 
great modern convenience, electric lights. 
Should this be accomplished, a great public 
service will be placetl to the credit of the 
subject of this sketch. 

Mr. Frisbie was married in 1882 to Eleanor 
Manning, third daughter of Nathaniel Man- 
ning, ICsq., a leading citizen of Middleburg, 
who traces his ancestry back to Governor 
Bradford, first Plymouth colony, who came 
over in the "Mayflower." The family was 
among the earliest in the county, and has held 
an honorable place in its annals. Mr. and 
Mrs. I'"rishie are the parents of three children 
— G. Norton, Cornelia M., and Daniel 
Manninyf. 



M 



A\U) CllAMHKRS, a thriving agri- 
culturist of Cobleskill, N.Y. , own- 
ing and occupying a wcll-ini|)roved 
farm of one hunthc'd and sixteen acres on the 
Carlisle road, about ihice miles from the vil- 
lage of Cobleskill, is one of the town's most 
respected citizens. He was born Januar\- 11, 



1837, in Carlisle, being a son of William 
Chambers, who was born in the same town, 
[une 2, 1 8 10. His paternal graiidfather, 
David Chambers, first, was born and rearetl in 
Charltcjn, Saratoga County, whence he removed 
in 1800 to Carlisle, Schoharie Count\'. I'ur- 
chasing three hundred acres of heavily tim- 
bered land, Grandfather Chandlers began the 
imiirovement of a homestead, on which he sub- 
sequently resided until his death. 

William Chambers was one of a familvof 
ten children born in the old log house which 
his father reared in the forest, and in common 
with his bidtheis and sisters was etlucated in 
the pioneer school of the district. .Soon alter 
attaining his majority he ])inchased land near 
the old homestead in Carlisle, and was there 
successfully engaged in tilling the soil initil 
1848. In that year he sold his projierty in 
Carlisle, and, going to Cherry Vallc)- in 
Otsego Comity, bought a farm that he owni-d 
till his death, which occurred on April 22, 
1899. He carried on general farming until 
1890. l-'rom that time on he li\'ed retired 
from active piu'suits, at the home of one of his 
sons ill Decatur, not far from Cherry Valley. 
He was a strong Republican in politics anil 
a member of the Christian clnnch, to which 
his gonil wife also belonged. Her maiden 
name was ]5etsey Salisbury. She was born in 
Carlisle, and was a daughter of James Salis- 
burv, formerly of Alban\- Comity. .She died 
at the age of seventy-five years. Of her eight 
children these six ai'e still living: Maiy, 
Da\id, James, Norman, Stewart, and l'",liza- 
beth. 




WILLIAM H. BALDWIN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



30s 



Ua\icl Chambers completed his education at 
the Cherry Valley High School, and after- 
ward, until he was twenty-three years old, as- 
sisted his father in the labors of the home 
farm. He then married, February 15, i860, 
Catherine M. Richtmyer, daughter of Christian 
Kichtmyer, a farmer of Cobleskill. Mr. 
Richtmyer was born, and he li\'ed and died, on 
the farm which Mr. Chambers now occupies, 
and which he has managed to good purpose 
ever since his marriage, now thirty-nine years 
ago. He carries on general farming, raising 
principally hops and hay, although he has 
other crops, and pays some attention to raising 
sheep of the Shropshire breed. He has on his 
])lace a fine grove of maple-trees, from which 
he makes considerable sugar each season. The 
original owner of this homestead was Conrad 
Richtmyer, Mrs. Chambers's grandfather, who 
was one of the first settlers of the town, coming 
here with his family when his son Christian 
was about three years old. This son succeeded 
to the ownership of the paternal acres, and here 
reared his two children — one son, Elias, and 
one daughter — Mrs. Chambers being the only 
sur\'i\'or. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers have one 
child, Florence. She is the wife of Adam J. 
Karker, and has four children — Orrin C, 
Blanche M., Lloyd D., and Myra A. Mr. 
Karker and his family reside with Mr. and 
Mrs. Chambers, and he assists in the manage- 
ment of the homestead property, although he 
has a fine farm of his own near by. 

In politics Mr. Chambers has always affili- 
ated with the Republican party, which is in 
the minority in this section of the State, and 



he has the distinction of being the only Super- 
visor elected on that ticket in Schoharie 
County for thirty years. He held the office 
in the years 1894 and 1895, being elected by 
a majority of forty-three votes in a town whose 
Democratic majority was usually three hun- 
dred. He attends and liberally supports the 
Dutch I'lefnrmed church, of which Mrs. Cham- 
bers is a member. 




W/ILLIAM H. BALDWIN, New Bal- 
timore, N.Y. — The Baldwins are of 
English descent. Their ancestors held the 
manor of Osterarsfee in Aylesbury, Bucking- 
hamshire, in the time of Henry II. The 
owner of the manor in 1 igo was Sylvester 
Baldwin, known as Aylesbury. In 1546 the 
manor of Dundridge, Aston-Clinton, four miles 
from Aylesbury, was added to the estate. In 
1638 Silvester Baldwin embarked for America 
in the ship "Martin," accompanied by his 
wife, two sons, Richard and John, and four 
daughters. He died during the passage, and 
his will was admittetl to probate in Boston the 
same year. He left a large estate. His fam- 
ily settled in New Haven, Conn. His son 
John, after losing his wife and child, settled 
in New London in 1664. In 1672 John mar- 
ried again, and removed to Stonington. His 
son Theophilus married Priscilla Mason, 
grand-daughter of the famous Captain John 
Mason, who led the settlers against the Pequod 
Indians in 1637, and destroyed the tribe. 

John Baldwin, son of Theophilus and Pris- 
cilla (Mason) Baldwin, married lumice Spald- 



3o6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ing. Their son Ziba, born in 1752, was the 
great-grandfather of William H. Baldwin. 

W'illiam H. Baldwin was married in 1874 
to Kittie Van Bergen, daughter of John Van 
Bergen, of Coxsackie, N.Y. She died in 
1876, the infant daughter Lizzie surviving her 
a few months. 

In 1880 William II. Baldwin married Lillie 
Summers Jones, of I'liiladelphia. Mrs. Bald- 
win is a member of the Chester County Chap- 
ter of the D. A. R. Her ancestors were 
among the earliest settlers of Pennsjhania. 
Her great-grandfather, Colonel Jonathan Jfmes, 
served his country in the capacity of Captain, 
Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Colonel of the 
Continental army, being promoted after active 
service in the campaign in C"ana<la in 1776. 




C^.VRSHALL I). BICK, of Schoharie, 
dealer in gentlemen's furnishing 
goods, hats, caps, boots and shoes, 
in business on Main Street, was born in this 
town on June I, 1837, son of Joshua and 
Jemima (Beadle) I^ice. His grandfather, 
Aaron Bice, was a native of Holland. He 
came to New York in early manhood, lived for 
a time in Dutchess County, and subsequently 
remo\ed to Schoharie, where he sjient the last 
years of his life. 

Joshua Bice, abo\e named, who was born in 
Dutchess County, was brought up on a farm, 
and was early accustomed to farm work. He 
also learned the shoemaker's trade. He came 
to this town shortly alter his marriage, and 
settled 1)11 a small farm which he carried (jn. 



engaging in shoemaking during his spare time. 
A man of great industry and very frugal, by 
degrees he added to his property till he was 
the owner of one hundred and twenty acres. 

He resided here si.\ty-two years in all, and 
died at the age of eighty-one. He was an old- 
fashioned, zealous Methodist, always active in 
church work, and was one of those who took a 
leading part in building the Methodist church 
edifice at East Cobleskill. He also took a 
warm interest in the Sunday-school. It is 
said that in e\ery-day life he applied the prin- 
ciples he professed to belie\e. His wife, 
Jemima, who also was an active church worker, 
was born in Dutchess County. They reared a 
family of thirteen children, only three of whom 
are living. These are : Levi M., Marshall D., 
and Asher. 

Marshall D. Bice received a practical educa- 
tion in the public schools of Schoharie, and 
subsec|uently, at the age of si.xteen, began his 
working life as clerk in the store of O. 15. 
Throop in this village. Three jears later he 
went to I'.ast Cobleskill, where for three years 
he was in partnershi[) with his father. At the 
end of that time he removed to Cobleskill and 
started in business for himself,- which he con -^ 
tinned for two )'ears. Cjoing then to New 
York Cit)', he was employed for two years in 
a wholesale hat store. This brought him up 
to the close of 1S63, and in December of that 
year he enlisted in Company H of the Third 
New York Regiment of Cavalry. Lor a \ear 
he remained in New York Harbor at draft ren- 
dezvous ; but at the end of that time he was ap- 
i:)ointetl Lieutenant of a company of ca\alry. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



307 



and went to the front, joining his regiment at 
Petersburg. Later his company went to Nor- 
folk to do general duty, and thence to North 
Carolina, where Mr. Bice was appointed a 
provost-marshal. Subsequently he was assist- 
ant provost-marshal at Norfolk, Va. , and then 
Aide-de-camp on General Mann's staff. After 
being mustered out of the ser\'ice in 1865, he 
remained at Norfolk, Va., for a year and a half, 
and was engaged in bu^-ing uj) government 
horses and mules at auction and selling them 
at private sale. In addition to this he carried 
on some mercantile business. Pie then re- 
ceived an appointment as United States In- 
spector of Spirits at Chicago, and went to that 
city. Returning to his native town at the end 
of nine months, he engaged in the general gro- 
cery and house furnishing business, which he 
continued for ten years, or up tu 1894, when he 
purchased the block where he is now carrying 
on business. He put in a large stock of goods, 
and has met with all the success he could have 
hoped for. 

Mr. Bice was married in 1879 to Melissa M. 
Jones, who was born in Duanesburg, N. Y. In 
politics he is a Democrat. He has been Con- 
stable for some years, also Overseer of the 
Poor, but has refused all other public offices. 
Forty years ago he joined Schoharie Valley 
Lodge, No. 491, F. & A. M., and he is at the 
present time the oldest member of this lodge. 
He has been Master for several years, and has 
filled all the other offices. In 1861 he joined 
the Chapter of Canajoharie, antl in 1863 he 
joined the Masonic chaj^ter at Cobleskill, 
being one of its charter members. He is a 



member of the Schoharie Lodge of Odd Fel- 
lows, and has for many years been connected 
with the fire department. Mr. Bice attends 
the Methodist church, and is a trustee of the 
society. 



M 



AVIL) M. HINMAN, the popular 
IC) J merchant of New Baltimore, Greene 
Comity, N.Y., was born in this town 
on the last day of January, 1S63. He is the 
only surviving son of the late William C. 
Hinman, who established the Hinman store, 
and who for many years was one of the leading 
citizens of New Baltimore. Mr. David M. 
Hinman's grandfather was a native of Connect- 
icut, and came from that State to Albany 
County, New York, when it was being cleared 
and settled. He was a school teacher by pro- 
fession, and followed that calling through a 
long life. He taught music as well as the 
common branches of learning. He died at the 
age of eighty. 

William C. Hinman was born in Albany 
County, and reared on a farm near Ravena. 
He pursued his studies in the district school, 
and in addition was privately instructed by his 
father. In early life he learned the carpenter's 
trade. Later he became a tradesman on a 
small scale near Utica, and subsequent to that 
he came to New Baltimore. Here he was 
clerk for John G. Raymond for a time, and he 
subsequently established the business, which 
has since become the largest of its kind in the 
town. The buildings now in use were built 
by him some time after the business was 
started. At first he was in partnership with 



3o8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 



his brother, Herman II. Hinman, later with 
William I-'ullcr clown to 1876. Then for 
eleven years, or up to the time of his death in 
1887, he carried on the business alone. He 
died aged si\ty-nine years. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Jane Terry, was born in 
Coeymans, N. Y. She was one of the ten chil- 
dren of John Terry, a lifelong farmer of that 
place. She is now seventy-five years of age. 
Of her seven children three are living — Kliz- 
abeth, Annie, and David .M. JJoth Mr. and 
Mrs. William C. Hinman were active in the 
affairs of the Methodist church, and both 
worked earnestly to secure the building of the 
church edifice, Mr. Hinman being on the com- 
mittee ha\ing the matter in charge. He was 
for years the strong man in the church, and to 
him all looked for counsel. He was a Re|)ub- 
lican in politics. At the time of his death he 
was the oldest merchant in the town. 

David M. Hinman attended the public 
schools of New Baltimore, and subsequently 
received ])ri\ate instruction for some time. 
He went to work in the store at an carlv age, 
and .soon became his father's most trusted and 
efficient clerk. I'pon the death of his father 
he succeeded to the business, which he has 
since successfully managed. He carries a 
large stock of general merchandise, including 
groceries and ])rovisions, dry goods, hardware, 
paints, oils, glass, oil-cloths, and ladies' and 
gentlemen's furnishing goods. The store has 
been the largest in the town since it was 
started fifty years ago. Mr. Ilinman's sister 
now acts as book-keeper, and she is also the 
operator on the Western Union Telegraph 



line here. Tiiere is a long distance tele- 
phone in tile store. .Mr. Hinman has in a 
measure stepped into the place his father for- 
merly occupied in the church. He is a mem- 
ber of the Hoard of Stewards, for si.\ )ears has 
been superintendent of the Sunday-school, and 
he is vice-president of the l^pworth League, of 
which he has been a member ever since the 
branch here was organized. His politics are 
Republican. He has held the office of Town 
Clerk for a year. 



^UDSON BURHANS, junior member of 
the enterprising firm of Borst & Bur- 
hans, Cobleskill, N.Y., millers, maiiu- 
factmers of buckwheat, wheat, r)'e, and graham 
flours, and custom grinders of general feed, is 
a well-known business man of this town. He 
was born the first day of January, 1849, ''i 
Carlisle, Schoharie County, which was also 
the birthplace of his father, John Burhans. 

The emigrant ancestor of the Ihuhans familv 
emigrated fiom Holland to the .State of New 
"\'ork ill the se\enteentli centvn\-. Mr. (ndson 
Burhans's grandfather, Peter Burhans, spent 
the early part of his life in Greene County, 
New York, whence he removed to Carlisle with 
his parents. He married Annie Hummel, 
the descendant of a Dutch family of (hx-ene 
County, and was the father of eight children, 
of whom two are yet li\ing. His wife died in 
Carlisle at the age of threescore and ten years. 
John Burhans, son of Peter and father of 
Judson, recei\ed his education in the tlistrict 
schools of Carlisle, anil on the i)arental farm 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3" 



was well drilled in the \ariiius branches of 
agriculture. Deciding to make farming his 
life occupation, he purchased the old home- 
stead when he became of age, and from that 
time until his death, at the age of seventy-six 
years, carried on general farming most success- 
fully. He married Lavinia Loucks, who was 
born in Carlisle, the daughter of Peter Loucks, 
a well-to-do farmer, and descendant of an early 
settler of the town. Si.\ children were the 
fruit of their union, namely: Judson, the sub- 
ject of this brief sketch; Andrew; Melvin ; 
Peter; Romeyn ; and Walton. Mrs. Burhans 
is still li\'ing, an acti\-e woman of sex'enty 
years. She is a member of the Lutheran 
church, to which her husband also belonged. 

Judson Burhans attended the district school 
until fifteen years old, when he began working 
out as a farm laborer and carpenter's appren- 
tice. After learning the trade he worked at 
carj)entering in the summer season and taught 
school winters for ten years, finding time also 
to fit himself for a book-keeper at the Pough- 
keejisie lousiness College. After that he was 
employed as a book-keeper at Cobleskill for a 
while, and then went to Albany, where he was 
engaged as a commission merchant from 1882 
until 18S6, when he disposed of his business 
in that city and returned to Cobleskill. ]^uy- 
ing an interest in the Cobleskill mills, he has 
since, with the co-operation of his partner, Mr. 
Borst, materially increased the capacity of the 
jjlant, which now produces on an average one 
lunitbed barrels of buckwheat flour, fifty barrels 
of rye flour, and forty tons of feed every 
twenty-four hours. These gentlemen make a 



specialty of buckwheat flour, which they manu- 
facture from a number one grain, bought di- 
rectly from the producer; and for the past few 
years they ha\'e sold to wholesale and retail 
dealers in all parts of the Union large amounts 
of their "Sure Rising Buckwheat," which is 
jjronounced by the trade to be one of the most 
popular on the market, ri\alling Hecker's, the 
Martha Washington, and the I. X. L. brands. 

On July 24, 1S78, Mr. Burhans married 
Miss Mary K. Becker, one of the si.\ children 
of Francis Becker, formerly a miller in this 
part of Schoharie County, but later a resident 
of Berne, Albany County. She was born and 
educated in Gallupville, a village not far from 
Colbeskill. Mr. and Mrs. I^urhans have two 
children — Frank J. and Flla Ploy, both of 
whom are in school. 

P'raternally, Mr. Burhans belongs to the 
Albany Lodge of Odd Fellows. He also 
joined the Improved Order of Red Men while 
li\ing in that city. He was one of the incor- 
porators of the I'armers' and Mechanics' Bank 
of Cobleskill, and is one of its directorate. In 
politics he is independent, voting with the 
courage of his convictions for the best men and 
best measures, regardless of party ties. He 
attends the Methodist lipiscopal church, of 
which Mrs. Burhans is an active member. 



^>KTFR MAGEE, a well-kn..wn ship- 
builder of Athens, N.Y., was born 
on November 23, 1838, in Baltimore, 
Md., where his parents, John and Anna (Ca- 
hill) Magee, settled when they emigrated to 



3' = 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



this country from Ireland. He is the only one 
now living of a family of eight children. Hoth 
father and mother were members of the Catho- 
lic church. The mother died at the age of 
seventy -one. 

Mr. Magee was reared in ]3altiniore, and in 
his childhood attended a parochial school in 
that city. When he was onU' thirteen years 
oUl, his father died and he hatl to begin to as- 
sist his widowed mother. He learned the 
shii)-builder's trade, serving a four years' ap- 
prenticeship with John J. Abraham, who was 
reckoned one of the best ship-builders in that 
region. When he had completed his period 
of apprenticeship, he began working for Mr. 
Abraham as a journeyman, and in a short 
time was recei\'ing higher wages than anv 
other man in the _\ard. After this he spent 
one year in Mound City, III. ; and, when he 
returned, he again engaged with Mr. Abraham. 
Leaving Baltimore a second time and going 
to New York Cit\-, he worked a while for 
Theodore Roosevelt, now Governor of the 
State, several niimths lor William 11. Webb, 
and then put up a vessel for \'an IJuzen 
Brothers. He next entered the service of the 
United States as a mechanic at Port Ro\al, 
and there remained two years and one month. 
Upon leasing Port Royal he came to New 
^'o|■k and todk a contract foi' work at the foot 
of Si.xteenth Street, being then only twenty- 
three years of age. After executing this to 
the satisfaction of all concerned, he went to 
work for Simonson, the ship-builder, this 
being during the eight-hour strike. 

Sul)se(|ucntl\' he was employed in Mr. 



J. R. lialdwin's yard at New Baltimore, and 
from that place he came to Athens and started 
business for himself. He was first in com- 
pany with Mr. Matthias \'an Loan in 1S71, 
and this partnershij) continued for twenty 
years, the firm being known as \'an Loan & 
Magee. Since i,S,S8 Mr. Magee has been 
without a partnei-. During the time he has 
been in the yard here he has built over two 
hundred vessels, and has rebuilt many more. 
He is one of the best known and most repu- 
table ship-buiklers in this region. His son 
Joseph acts as his foreman. 

Mr. Magee was mairied in 1S71 to Mary J. 
McCabe, who was born in (ii-eene Counts'. 
She has borne him three chiklren: Jose[)h, 
above mentioned; Mary; and Hannah. All 
the children have received a public-school edu- 
cation. The daughters reside with their i>ar- 
ents. Joseph mai-ried Mary Brennan. 

Mr. Magee is a Democrat in politics, and 
for many \ears has been member (jf trnvii and 
county committees. He has attended man)- 
conventions as delegate. In 1S.S5 he was 
elected .Sheriff ot the county, ami tor the three 
succeeding years he efficiently filled that 
office. He has been a member of the .School 
Board foi- thirt)- years, and for the sanie length 
of time a Trustee of the \ illage. 

Mr. Magee's house is one u( the finest in 
Athens. He jnits a large amount of money in 
circidation in the town es'ery week when lie 
pays off his hirce of workmen. He and his 
family attenil the Catholic chuich. I'hvy aie 
actively interested in all efforts to promote the 
welfare of the communitv. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3^3 




lUTHER ZELIE, a wide-awake, enter- 
prising business man of Fulton, Scho- 
harie County, prosperously engaged 
as a general merchant in the \'illage of Break- 
abeen, was born in this town on July 7, 1874. 
The son of h^phraim and Helen (Becker) Zelie, 
he is the representative of one of the earlier 
families of this jiart of the county, and comes 
of patriotic stock, his great-grandfather, Colo- 
nel Zelie, of the Revolutionary armv, having 
had command oi the U])per Fort in Fulton 
during the Colonial struggle for independence. 

Peter Zelie, son of Colonel Zelie and 
grandfather of Luther, sj^ent his entire life of 
seventy-five years in Fulton, and here married 
Eliza Vroman. He was a carpenter, and fol- 
lowed his trade until well advanced in years, 
when he retired from work, and spent his re- 
maining days with his son Ephraim. His 
wife survi\ed him, attaining the age of four- 
score years. Both were devout members of 
the Reformed church. They had eleven chil- 
dren. 

Ephraim Zelie, the father above named, was 
born in 1839 '•'' I'ulton, and obtained his edu- 
cation in the district schools. At the age of 
ten years he began working out, and from that 
time fought the battle of life for himself. 
When old enough to labor at the anvil, he 
learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he 
subsequently worked as a journeyman in differ- 
ent parts of Schoharie County. Going then to 
Cleveland, Ohio, he remained there three 
years, but preferring to establish himself per- 
manently in New York he returned home, and 
in 1 861 located in Breakabeen, where he con- 



tinued at his trade for twenty years. From 
that time until his death, May 20, 1S97, he 
lived on a farm in Fulton. He was a firm 
supjrorter of the principles of the Democratic 
party, and served for a while as Collector of 
Taxes. He married Helen Becker, one of the 
two children of Henry and Rebecca (Berg) 
Becker. Her father, who was a farmer, died 
at the age of fifty years, and her mother died 
at the age of forty-eight. Five children were 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Zelie, and of 
these two are living; namely, Luther and 
Laura, twins. Laura is the wife of Floyd 
Mattice, of North Blenheim. ]?oth parents 
were active members of the Lutheran church, 
in which the father served as an Elder, besides 
holding other offices, being for a number of 
years a teacher in the Sunday-school. 

Luther Zelie in boyhood and youth attended 
successively the village schools of Fulton and 
the Middleburg High School, and afterward 
completed the course of study at the Albany 
Business College. Returning to Fulton, he 
taught school a year in this town, and then 
began his mercantile career as a clerk in the 
store of Cottrell & Leonard, hatters and fur- 
riers in Albany, where he remained three 
years. Coming to Breakabeen in 1895, Mr. 
Zelie bought out the long-established business 
of Mr. E. Patterson, a well-known merchant, 
and has since conducted the store with emi- 
nent success. Lie has considerably increased 
the original stock, carrying now a complete 
assortment of groceries, provisions, boots, 
shoes, hats, gentlemen's clothing and furnish- 
ing goods, and also a full line of hardware, 



314 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in all of which he has built uj) a substantial 
trade. 

On January 26, 1898, Mr. Luther Zelie was 
united in marriage with Miss Kcziah Shafer, 
danj,diter of Joseph A. Shafer, of Breakabeen. 

Mr. Zelie i.sanOdd l'"ellow, being a mem- 
ber of Ulenlieim Lodge, L O. (1 ]•". In poli- 
tics he affiliates with the Democratic party, 
and is now serving as I'own Clerk. He and 
liis wife are faithful membeis of the Lutheran 
church and of the Sunday-school connected 
with it, Mr. Zelie being the superintendent of 
the school. 



"C|GBI':Rr J^. D(^DGI<:, of Ashland, was 
J L! born in Cireenville, Greene County, 

N.\'., ( )ctober 24, 1S22, son of Andrew and 
Ruth (lilackniar) D(]dge. He is a grandson of 
Moses Dodge, who mo\ed his family from 
Massachusetts to Frceh(jld, (jreene County, in 
1804, and followed the blacksmith's trade in 
connection with other mechanical occupations 
for the rest of his life. Moses Dodge is said 
to have been a descendant of William Dodge, 
one of the early settlers of .Salem, Mass. 

Andrew Dodge, father of JCgbert H. , was 
born in Ahissaehusetts. When a young man 
he engaged in farming in I''reehold. From 
181 5 to 1847 he carried on a general store, 
and he also manufactuied potash. I lis last 
days were spent in letirement upon his farm, 
and he died at the age of eight)- one years. 
He served as Postmaster for thirty years. In 
politics he was originally a Whig and later a 
Republican. Dniiiig the somewhat violent 
agitation against the Masonic traternit)- which 



took place in his day, he sided with the op[)o- 
nents, and was known as an anti- Mason. An- 
drew Dodge married Ruth Klackmar, a native 
of Great Harrington, Mass., daughter of Abel 
Hlackmar, a prosperous farmer and cattle 
dealer. She became the mother of ten chil- 
dren, three of whom are living; namely, Eg- 
bert ]1, Augusta, and Louisa. Augu.sta is the 
widow of the Rev. John N. Spoor; anil Louisa 
married Daniel G. Searles, of Greenville. 
]\Irs. Ruth Dodge died at the age of fifty-five 
years. The parents of Ruth Dodge were mem- 
bers of the Christian church, of which she was 
also a member. 

Egbert 1^. Dodge obtained his knowledge of 
the primary branches of learning in the com- 
mon schools of Freehold, ami completed his 
studies at the academy in (ireenville. He 
taught several terms of school in Greene and 
Dutchess Counties previous to 1847. In that 
year he engaged in trade at Freehold, where he 
continued in business some thirteen years, and 
in i860 he removed to Ashland. Securing a 
site adjoining the hotel, he opened a general 
store, which for the succeeding two years was 
the only source of suppl\' in this \'icinity. He 
was therefore called upon to carry a varied 
stock, which was transported from New \'ork 
City by river boats to CatskiU. ,\fter being 
out of business two years he (in 1869) built 
a new store; and, putting in a large stock of 
general menhandise, he continued in trade 
until 18S0, when he was succeeded by his son. 
.■\fter being relieved of the cares of business 
he could not remain idle, preferring instead to 
continue in the store; and as Assistant Post- 




EGBERT B. DODGE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



317 



master he has handled the mails here for the 
past thirty years. He was Postmaster under 
President Fillmore and during a part of the 
Pierce administration. He has witnessed 
many changes and improvements in the postal 
service, and has a distinct remendjrancc of 
the days when stages were the only means of 
conveyance. He has voted at every Presiden- 
tial election since 1844, when he supported 
the candidacy of Henry Clay, and is now a 
Republican. He served as a Supervisor in 
1 868, as Town Clerk in 1870, was a Justice of 
the Peace for fourteen years, and has settled 
many estates. 

In 1853 Mr. Dodge was united in marriage 
with Eliza C. Sax, who was born in Cairo, 
Greene County, daughter of Jacob Sax, the 
descendant of an early Dutch settler and a 
prosperous farmer of that town. Mr. and Mrs. 
Dodge reared three children ; namely, Francis, 
Edgar S. , and Ella M. Dodge. P^rancis suc- 
ceeded his father in business, and is now the 
leading merchant in this section, also Post- 
master at the present time. He married Mary 
Clark, and has two children — Frederick C. 
and F'lorence. lulgar S. , who is a horse 
dealer, married Sarah Frances Martin. Pllla 
M. married Edward Snow, a carpenter of 
Kingston, and has three children — Herbert, 
Harold, and Laura. Mrs. IHiza C. Dodge 
died August 28, 1897, aged sixty-six years. 

As an intelligent, progressive, and public- 
spirited citizen, who can be depended upon for 
assistance in forwarding any movement calcu- 
lated to be of benefit to the community, Mr. 
Dodge is highly esteemed by his fellow-towns- 



men, among whom he has for years been a 
prominent and infiuential figure. He pos- 
sesses an extensive knowledge of the town's 
history for the past thirty-eight years, has been 
a careful reader of instructive books, and his 
judgment in matters of public importance is 
still sought for and relied upon. He was for- 
merly a member of the Independent Order of 
Odd P^ellows. In his religious belief he is a 
Presbyterian, and his son Francis is promi- 
nently identified with the Presbyterian church. 



T^HARLES P. McCABE, M.D., of 
I J| Greenville, one of the foremost prac- 
^ — ^ tising physicians of Greene County, 
was born on August 11, 1856, in the house 
where his father, Bradley Selleck McCabe, 
M. D. , now resides. His family is an old one 
in the count)', having been prominent here 
since 1783, when Stephen McCabe, his great- 
grandfather, settled in New Baltimore. 

Stephen McCabe was born in New Jersey in 
1755. During the Revolution he enlisted and 
served for a time in the Continental army. 
At the close of the war he came to New Balti- 
more with his wife, Mary P'arrar, and their 
family, his son Benjamin being then three 
years of age. There he settled on the estate 
now owned by Hiram Miller. 

Benjamin McCabe, the third son, was mar- 
ried in 181 2 to Sarah Gedney, of New Balti- 
more, and continued to reside on his father's 
place till 1825, when he purcha.sed and re- 
moved to the farm now occupied by Mrs. Cath- 



3>8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



cart. In 1834 he bought and rcniovcd to the 
farm now owned by Adam Lorcnz. Benja- 
min's wife, Sarah, was tiie daughter of Joshua 
Gedney, who was one of the ])ioiicer settlers of 
New Baltimore, where he became the owner of 
a fine farm. He was born in W'estchester 
Count}', of which his father was an early set- 
tlei", and it was on his father's land in that 
county that the battle of White Plains took 
place. Joshua Gedney and his wife, whose 
maiden name was ]?ennett, were zealous Meth- 
odists, and their descendants to the present 
generation ha\e continued in the faith of that 
church. Mrs. Gedney died at sevent\. She 
was born in Westchester County. Her chil- 
dren were: Peter, Bartholomew, Joshua, Sam- 
uel, Absalom, Sarah, Hannah, and Patience. 
Of Benjamin McCabe it has been written, "He 
was possessed of a discriminating mind and a 
sound judgment, and was never known to shed 
a tear nor to laugh audibly, so perfectly were 
his passions under his control." He died on 
November 6, 1855, sur\iving his wife only 
nine da)s. He was the father of the follow- 
ing-named children : Caroline, Jane, Hamil- 
ton, Bartholomew G. , Bradley S., Philip E. , 
and Mary. Of these, Hamilton J., the eldest 
son, has f(jr many years been engaged in the 
tin and hardware business in Greenville vil- 
lage; and Bartholomew (}., the second son, 
who was graduated in medicine, died at De- 
posit, Delaware County, N. Y. 

Bradley Selleck McCabe, M.D., lather of 
the subject of this sketch, received his medical 
diploma from the Albany Medical College in 
1850, and shortly entered on the duties of his 



profession in partnership with Dr. Gideon 
Botsford, with whom he had begun the study 
of medicine some years before, after attending 
Greenville Academy. The late Di-. Botsforil 
was a notable man of his time in Greenville, 
and had a very large jiractice. Dr. ]\IcCabe, 
who has been his worth}- successor, is known 
throughout the county for his skill both in 
medicine and in surgery. He has been for a 
number of years a member of the Board of 
Trustees of Greenville Academy. lie rep- 
resented his town in the Board of .Supervisors 
six years, was twice chairman of the Board. 
He Jias also represented the county in the 
State legislature. 

lie was married on June 26, 1850, to Mary 
L., youngest daughter of the late Dr. Amos 
Botsford. Three children have been born to 
him — Amos B., Charles P., and George G. 
Amos B. McCabe, who has been in the sub- 
treasury in New York City since 1890, was 
born on September 17, 1852, and during early 
manhood engaged in agricultural pursuits. He 
married Helen Kyle, of Albanv, arid has two 
children — John C. and Mary B. , the son 
being now in the employ of the New York 
Life Insurance Company. George G. McCabe 
was born on June 26, i860. He was formerl\- 
in the employ of P. W'inne & Co., of this 
place, but is now carrying on a drug business 
for himself. He was Postmaster for eight 
}ears under Cleveland, and he is the present 
Supervisor of the town. He married Emme- 
line .Stevens, the ceremony taking place on 
January 8, 1895. Dr. Bradley S. McCabe 
was Postmaster for tour years untler I'ranklin 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



319 



Pierce, and also under James ]?uchanan. He 
was formerly connected with the Odd Fellows, 
and was for some years an active worker in 
that organization. 

Charles P. McCabe after attending the 
Greenville Academy went to Boston, Mass., 
and entered the Conservatory under the famous 
teacher, Petersilea, where he remained for two 
years. Returning to his native place, he 
taught music for some years, but in 1880 
began the study of medicine with his father. 
Subsequently he entered the Medical College 
at Albany, and in March, 1883, took his de- 
gree from that institution. After some time 
spent in the Boston hospitals and attendance 
on the clinics there, he came back to Green- 
ville and settled to practise with his father, 
continuing in partnership with him till 1890. 
He has since practised alone. He has patients 
in all the surrounding towns over a radius of 
fifteen miles, and besides his extensive medi- 
cal practice has many difficult surgical cases. 
He built his present residence in 1889. 

Dr. Charles P. McCabe was married on Sep- 
tember 10, 1884, to Helena F. , eldest daughter 
of the late Robert Elliott, of Hunter, a sketch 
of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Of 
this union three children have been born, of 
whom Clara, the eldest, died at the age of four- 
teen months, and Millicent at the age of five 
and a half years. One daughter is living, 
Dorothy K. In religious faith Dr. Charles P. 
McCabe is a Methodist. Both he and his wife 
are prominent workers in the church, and he 
has been superintendent of the Sunday-school 
and for many years one of the stewards. For 



many years he sang in the choir, and formerly 
he held the position of organist. He orga- 
nized the Greenville Musical Union, a chorus 
of seventy voices, and so great was its reputa- 
tion that at one time the largest hall in the 
town was filled on six successive evenings to 
listen to it. Mrs. McCabe was a teacher in 
the Sunday-school for many years, and also 
sang and acted as organist. She is a graduate 
of Kingston Academy and of Chamberlaine 
College in Randolph, N.Y. She was born in 
Hunter. 

Dr. Charles P. McCabe is a member of the 
New York State Medical Society, and is now 
president of the Greene County Medical Soci- 
ety. In politics he is a Democrat. In 1S93 
he was elected and served as Supervisor, but 
he refused to accept the nomination a second 
time, and has uniformly declined to run for 
other offices, feeling that his practice needs 
his undivided attention. He is, however, con- 
nected with various fraternal societies, namely : 
with James M. Austin Lodge of Masons, of 
which he was Master for three terms; with 
Zeus Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, of 
which he was Chancellor for two years, and of 
which he is a charter member and was the first 
commanding officer. He has unusual business 
aptitude. He is president of the Greene 
County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and 
was formerly president of the Village Fire As- 
sociation, which operates in Greene, Albany, 
Delaware, and Schoharie Counties, and he is 
a director in both companies. Ever since the 
Greenville Board of Education was organized 
he has been one of its most active members. 



320 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




ilIRISTIAN RECTOR, who owns a 
good farm in Glenvillc, N. Y., on the 
banks of the Mohawk River, was 
born wlierc he now resides on October i6, 
1S36, son of William and Susan (Haverley) 
Rector. 

William Rector was a native of this State. 
Settling when a young man upon the farm his 
son now owns, he successfully followed agri- 
cultural pursuits for the rest of his active 
period. He took a leading part in public 
affairs, holding various town offices, and in 
politics he was a Democrat. He was a Dea- 
con and Elder of the Reformed church. His 
wife, Susan, was born in the house which her 
son Christian now occupies. She was the 
daughter of Christian Haverley, who built the 
house with brick made upon the farm. She 
became the mother of three children, namely: 
Anna M., wife of James T. Wyatt, of Glen- 
villc; Christian, the subject of this sketch; 
and Susan Rosa, who is no longer living. 
William Rector lived to be nearly eighty-five 
years old, and his wife died at eighty-three. 

Christian Rector was reared and educated in 
Glenville. From his youth upward he has 
been engaged in tilling the soil, and, succeed- 
ing to the ownership of the homestead property 
of two hundred and seventy acres, he has real- 
ized excellent returns as a general farmer. 
His success is the result of jiractical knowl- 
edge, diligent effort, and sound judgment. 

On October 10, 1866, Mr. Rector married 
Emma Veddcr, who was born in Schenectady, 
June 4, 1845, daughter of Peter and Prudence 
(Gates) Vedder. Her father was born in Nis- 



kayuna, N. Y. , and her mother was a native of 
Schenectady. Peter Vedder was a carpenter 
and lumber dealer in Schenectady for many 
years, and the business is now carried on by 
his sons. He served as Supervisor and Alder- 
man, to which offices he was elected by the 
Republican jiarty ; and as a generous, public- 
spirited citizen he was accorded the esteem 
and good will of his fellow-townsmen. In his 
religious belief he was a Baptist. Peter Ved- 
der lived to be sevcnty-si.x years old. His 
wife died at thirty-nine. He w-as the father of 
eight children, namely: Mary C, who is now 
Mrs. Van Dyke; Emma, who is now Mrs. 
Rector; Theresa, who is now Mrs. Gilbert; 
Daniel G. , Sharratt G. , Albert, William, of 
Pasadena, Cal. ; and Prudence G., who is now 
Mrs. Betts. Mr. and Mrs. Rector have three 
children, namely: William, a druggist in 
Schenectady; Susan R. , who married George 
Koonz, of Glenville, and has two daughters — 
Mabel and Berdena ; and Prudence, who re- 
sides at home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rector are members of the 
Reformed church. Politically, Mr. Rector 
acts with the Democratic party. 




EARENCE M. BOORN, station agent, 
I telegraph operator, freight agent, and 
passenger agent at Seward station, 
Schoharie County, is a capable, pleasant, ac- 
commodating official, well adapted for the 
responsible position that he holds. He was 
born September 6, 1863, in Decatur, Otsego 
County, N.Y., the town in which both his 




CHRISTIAN RECTOR. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



323 



father, Nathan Boorn, and his grandfather, 
whose name was Amos, first drew the breath 
of life. Amos Boorn was the son of one of 
the earliest settlers of Decatur, and was born 
and reared in a log cabin. A man of industri- 
ous habits, energetic and ambitious, he cleared 
the timber from a large tract of land, and thus 
reclaimed from the wilderness a fine farm. 
He lived to the age of seventy years. 

Nathan Boorn was born in the log house in 
which his parents began housekeeping. In the 
days of his boyhood and youth he greatly as- 
sisted his father in felling the giant trees of 
the forest and in tilling the soil. He after- 
ward learned the blacksmith's trade, and for 
many years followed it in his native town. 
Subsequently removing to the near-by town of 
East Worcester, he there set up his smithy, 
and now, though he is seventy years of age, he 
is still active. 

" Week in, week out, from morn till night. 
You can hear his bellows blow." 

He married Catherine Brazie, one of the 
thirteen children of Francis Brazie, of Coopers- 
town, N.Y. Four children were born of their 
union, and three are living, as follows: Clar- 
ence M. ; Ortentia, wife of Alfred R. Robbins; 
and Friend. Both parents are consistent mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 
politics the father is an uncompromising Re- 
publican, and, though never an office-seeker, 
has served two terms as Town Clerk. 

Clarence M. Boorn was educated in the pub- 
lic schools, and at the age of seventeen he left 
home in order to study telegraphy. As soon 



as he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of 
the art, he was appointed night operator at one 
of the stations on the Delaware & Hudson 
River Railroad, and he has since, for a period 
of seventeen years, been in the employ of the 
same company. For some time he had 
charge of the telegraph office at Unadilla, 
whence he was transferred as agent to Schen- 
evus, also in Otsego County, and in 1896 came 
to Seward. Here he has faithfully and satis- 
factorily performed the duties pertaining to his 
office, and in every way has proved himself 
worthy of the confidence reposed in him. Po- 
litically, he is a supporter of the principles of 
the Republican party. 

On March 19, 1890, Mr. Boorn married 
Miss Edna M. Winegard, who was born in 
Seward, one of the two children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Abram Winegard, well-to-do and promi- 
nent members of the farming community of 
this town, and pillars of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. Mr. and Mrs. Boorn have one 
child, Carl W. Mr. Boorn attends the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Boorn 
is an active member. 




ILLIAM B. KNISKERN, an ener- 
getic farmer and one of the most 
popular young men of Blenheim, N. Y. , was 
born in Fulton, this State, September 6, 186S. 
He is the son of Rufus and Helen M. (Best) 
Kniskern, and is of the fifth generation in 
descent from Johannis Kniskern, his pioneer 
ancestor, who was the original owner (as early 
as 1775) of the farm on which he resides with 



324 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



his father and mother. This is the line: 
Johannis, ' Joseph,' Christopher,' Rufus, ■* 
William B.s 

The grandfather, Christopher Kniskcrn, son 
of Josejih, succeeded to the ownershii) of the 
homestead, and was an industrious farmer. He 
married Olive Dornburgh. Their children 
were: Hamilton, who resides in Blenheim, and 
is a cooper by trade; Angeline, wife of Joseph 
F'ink; Adeline, who married S. L. Perry; 
Mary, who married William S. Hager; Eliza- 
beth, who is unmarried; Rufus, the father of 
William ]?. ; Caroline, who married Jeremiah 
Zeh ; and Martha, who married a Mr. Shaffer. 

Rufus Kniskern was reared on the ancestral 
farm, which he inherited in turn, and here he 
continues to make his home. Devoting him- 
self to its cultivation during the active period 
of his life, he gave particular attention to 
carrying on a dairy and raising hops, making 
the most of his opportunities for success. He 
married Helen M. Best, daughter of William 
and Nancy (Hagadorn) Best, of Fulton. 
Rufus Kniskern is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and his wife is a Lutheran. 

William B. Kniskern acquired a public-school 
education. From his youth he has worked 
upon the homestead farm, which for some time 
he cultivated jointly with his father. He now 
crops about twenty-five acres, has fifty acres of 
excellent pasture land, and keeps from twelve 
to fifteen cows. He has relinquished the 
growing of hops, preferring to devote his en- 
ergy to general farming and dairying. 

Mr. Kniskern married Mary C. Hanes, 
daughter of John Hanes, of l''ult()n. They 



have one .son, Harold. Politically, he is a 
Democrat. Although frequently solicited to 
accejDt nominations to town offices, he has 
generally declined, but has rendered valuable 
service to the party as a member of the town 
and county committees, and was a candidate 
for Supervisor in 1898. He attends the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. 




OREN P. COLP:, attorney-at-law and 
farmer of Conesville, N. V., was born 
in this town, May 31, 1852, son of 
Elder Loren P. and Charlotte (Weed) Cole. 
He is a grandson of Avery Cole, who moved 
with his family from Vermont to that part of 
Blenheim which is now Gilboa, Schoharie 
County, and was engaged in farming for the 
rest of his life, his death occurring at the age 
of seventy years. 

Avery Cole was an active member of the 
Baptist church. He was a Whig in politics, 
and held some of the town offices. The 
maiden name of his wife was Polly l^lair, and 
their children were : Suel, Ambrose, Loren P., 
Anson, Barnard, Ahaz, Rosetta, Mary, and 
Esther. Of these Ambrose, who resided in 
Indiana, and Rosetta, who married Patrick Van 
Dyke, are the only survivors. Mary married 
Warren W. Parsons; Esther married Daniel C. 
Leonard; Suel and Barnard died in Gilboa; 
Anson died in Western New York ; and Ahaz 
died in Windham, this State. All e.xcept 
Suel lived to be si.xty-three years old. 

Elder Loren P. Cole, father of the subject 
of this .sketch, was born in Vermont in 180S, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



327 



and came to Schoharie County when he was 
four years old. He resided in Gilboa until 
1845, when he came to Conesville and became 
an extensive farmer, owning some three hun- 
dred acres of land. He was an ordained min- 
ister of the Baptist denomination. He sup- 
plied pulpits in this section for many years, 
and also taught school. He served as Super- 
visor for the years 1853-59, 1864, and 1879, 
being in the latter year the oldest man on the 
board. He also served as Highway Commis- 
sioner, Superintendent of Schools, and Gen- 
eral Inspector. Elder Cole died in 1 886. He 
was twice married. His first wife, Phcebe M. 
Pierce, died two years after marriage, leaving 
one daughter, Phoebe Ann, who married E. G. 
Case. For his second wife he married Char- 
lotte Weed, whose ancestors came from Con- 
necticut. Seven children were born of this 
union, namely : Alzina, who married W. H. 
Braman ; Pluma, who married Bartholomew 
Becker; Julia E., wife of James A. Bouck ; 
lanthe, wife of George W. Gurnsey ; Char- 
lotte, who married Giles P. Guernsey; Eean- 
der, a farmer of Conesville; and Loreii P., the 
subject of this sketch. The mother's death 
occurred a few weeks prior to that of her hus- 
band. 

Loren P. Cole was given the advantages of 
a good education, and after the completion of 
his studies he taught seven terms of school in 
winter, and worked summers on a farm of his 
father's. Purchasing the home farm in 1S76, 
he carried it on until i88g, when he sold the 
property to his brother Leander, and bought a 
residence in the village. His law studies 



were pursued in the office of Le Grand Van 
Tyle, now District Attorney; and since estab- 
lishing him.self in practice he has built up a 
large business both in Conesville and Gilboa. 
In public affairs he has rendered able services 
to the town and county as Supervisor for eight 
years, acting as chairman of some of the most 
important committees. In politics he is a 
Democrat. 

Mr. Cole married in 1873 Martha Leonard, 
daughter of Peter H. Leonard, formerly of 
Prattsville, and now of Bainbridge, N. Y. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cole have no children. They attend 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 



<^« »» 



M 



AVID T. SLATER, general mer- 
chant of Hensonville, in the town of 
Windham, Greene County, N.Y. , 
was born in Jewett, July 24, 1839, son 
of Hugh and Sally (Woodworth) Slater. 
His parents were natives of Greene County, 
his father having been born in Cairo, and his 
mother in Hunter. 

His paternal grandfather, Elihu Slater, who 
was born in Connecticut, came to Cairo as a 
pioneer, built a log cabin, cleared a farm, and 
tilled the soil during his active period. 
Grandfather Slater died at the age of seventy- 
three; and his wife, Sally Beach Slater, who 
was the mother of a large family, died at 
seventy-two years of age. They were mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Hugh Slater, father of David T. , was reared 
on a farm in Cairo, and resided there until 
twenty-one years old. He then went to Jew- 



328 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ctt, where he followed the occupation of a 
farmer until his death, which occurred at 
seventy-two years of age. In politics he was 
a Democrat until 1856, when he became a Re- 
publican, his views having changed on the 
slavery cjuestion. He held several town 
ofifices. His wife, Sally, was a daughter of 
Lemuel Woodworth, a jjrosperous farmer of 
this section. Four of the five children born to 
them are living, namely: David T. , the sub- 
ject of this sketch; Mary, who married Henry 
Whitcomb; Lydia, who became the wife of 
Anson R. Mott ; and Dayton, who is a drug- 
gist in Hunter. The mother, Mrs. Sally 
Woodworth Slater, died at seventy-one. 

David T. Slater began his education in Jew- 
ett, and completed his studies at Ashland 
Seminary. At the age of twenty-six he went 
to Cairo, where he followed farming and ran 
a saw-mill for si.\ years, at the end of which 
time he sold his property and came to Henson- 
ville. Purchasing an interest in a general 
store, he was a partner in the concern for 
twenty-two years, then becoming sole proprie- 
tor of the establishment. He conducts a 
thriving business here, carrying a large stock 
of dry goods, groceries, clothing, boots and 
shoes, patent medicine, hats, caps, and other 
wares. 

In 1864 Mr. Slater was united in marriage 
with Miss Elizabeth Winter, daughter of Har- 
rison Winter, of Jewett. They have had eight 
children, four of whom survive — Jonathan, 
Lilian, Dayton, and Eva. Jonathan married 
Laura Shercr. He is a minister of the gospel 
in Brooklyn, N.Y. Lilian is a pupil at a 



seminary in New York City, and tlie others 
are also attending school. 

Since 1884 Mr. Slater has acted with the 
Prohibition party, and has been Inspector of 
Elections. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, has been class leader, and 
also superintendent of the Sunday-school. 



M 



UNCAN M. LEONARD, M.D., of 
l(D J I^ioome Centre, Schoharie County, 
was born in Roxbury, Delaware 
County, N. v., Augu.st 27, 1837, son of Henry 
and Iluldah (Hull) Leonard. His grand- 
father, John Leonard, was a native of Ger- 
many, being the son of an P^nglishman who 
settled in that country and married there. 
John Leonard, on coming to America, first set- 
tled at Black River, Vt., but later removed to 
Delaware County, New York, and was one of 
the first to make a clearing in Ro.xbury. He 
died in that town, August 23, 1826. He was 
an active member of the Baptist church. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Ruth Olmstead, 
died March ig, 1S42. They had but one son, 
Henry, Dr. Leonard's father. 

Henry Leonard was born in Roxbury, July 
4, 1789. Succeeding to the ownership of the 
homestead, he gave his principal attention to 
dairy farming and stock raising, and through 
energy and thrift he realized good financial 
results. In politics he was a Whig. Henry 
Leonard died December 20, 1871. His wife, 
Huldah, who was born June 20, 1799, was a 
daughter of Seth Hull, of Hartford, Conn. 
She died September 10, 1S64. They were the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



329 



])arents of twelve children, namely: SalinaJ., 
born October 5, 1820; John, born June 6, 
1S22; Peter H., born May 21, 1824; George 
H., born January 11, 1826; Daniel C, born 
September 16, 1827, died in July, 1897; Asa 
D., born September 4, 1S29; Lucy, born 
March 13, 1832, who married John VVeckle; 
Samuel W., born December 8, 1833; William 
H., born June 27, 1835; Duncan M., the sub- 
ject of this sketch; Mary E., born April 25, 
1839; and Charles K., born May 20, 1842. 
George H., who practised medicine, served in 
the Civil War, and died in Brooklyn, N.Y. ; 
John, who became a surgeon of repute, served 
three years in the army, and owing to ill- 
health he subsequently engaged in farming; 
Peter H., Daniel C, and Asa D. were 
farmers; Samuel W. remained upon the home- 
stead ; and Mary E. married Christian Ender- 
lin, of Roxbury. Charles K., while pursuing 
his medical studies, received injuries which 
later resulted in his death. Several of the 
sons taught school in their younger days. 
The father was a Baptist and a prominent 
church member. 

Duncan M. Leonard completed his early ed- 
ucation at the Ro.xbury Academy, and having 
begun his medical studies under the direction 
of his brother George, he attended the Univer- 
sity Medical College, Castleton, Vt. , from 
which he was graduated in 1857. Locating at 
Broome Centre on January i of the following 
year, he has resided here ever since, and al- 
though he has practised his profession steadily 
for a pericxl of over forty years he still retains 
nnich of the vigor and activitv which charac- 



terized his youth, and attends regularly to his 
every-day duties. As a physician he stands 
high in the community, his professional skill 
and reputation for promptitude enabling him 
to maintain among the well-to-do residents of 
this vicinity a practice sufificient to keep him 
constantly busy; yet he has never been known 
to refuse when called to attend the poor, from 
whom he could e.xpect little or no compensa- 
tion, and he has never instigated a law suit for 
the collection of fees. Prompted b}' the be- 
lief that good physicians are an urgent neces- 
sity to the welfare of mankind, he has not only 
directed the preparation of several students 
and provided for their personal wants during 
their preliminary studies, but has also assisted 
them in securing an adequate college training. 

On January i, i860. Dr. Leonard married 
for his first wife Vashtie McHench, who died 
June 4, 1877; and on January i, 1879, he 
wedded her sister, Emma J. Their father was 
William McHench, the son of John, who came 
from the north of Ireland, and was a pioneer 
farmer in this section. The family is of 
Scotch origin. 

John McHench had a family of four chil- 
dren; namely, Submit, William, Catherine, 
and John. Submit married Benjamin Thorn- 
ington. Catherine married John Goodfellow. 
William remained on the homestead, unci 
John settled in another part of the town. 
William McHench, who was a prosperous 
farmer, took an active part in j)ublic affairs, 
and held some of the important offices in 
this town. In early life he was interested 
in military affairs, and acquired the title of 



33° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Captain. He was one of the Icadini;- meml)ers 
of the Christian church. He died at the age 
of seventy-.seven years. William McHench 
married Ann Ferguson, and was the father of 
nine children, namely: Willard, deceased; 
James R. , deceased, who settled in Minnesota, 
and became wealthy ; Nancy, deceased, who 
married Elder Brown, and had four children; 
Va.shtie, Dr. Leonard's first wife; William and 
Wilson, twins; Andrew and Francis, also 
twins; and Emma J., Dr. Leonard's second 
wife. Of these, William, .Andrew, and Emma J. 
are still living. William McHench, second, 
was graduated from the medical department of 
the University of Michigan, and is now prac- 
tising his profession in Brighton, that State. 

Dr. Leonard is the father of four children, 
all by his first marriage, namely: Emma R., 
born October ig, i860; Frances A., born .Sep- 
tember 12, 1863; Ursula J., born April 16, 
1866; and Kutson R., born June 3, 1868. 
Emma R., who is a graduate of the State 
Normal School, Albany, is a successful school 
teacher. Frances is the wife of F. B. 
Mackey. Ursula J. married C. S. Best, 
M.D. , who is practising in Middleburg, 
N.Y. Rutson R. Leonard, M. D. , who is now 
located in Bloomville, Delaware County, New 
York, began his preparation under his father's 
direction, and pursued his advanced studies in 
the vmivcrsities of Vermont, New York City, 
and Michigan. 

Dr. Duncan M. Leonard cultivates a good 
farm, and is quite an extensive real estate 
holder, owning about seven hundred acres in 
all. He formerly acted with the Republican 



jiarty in politics, but now votes independently. 
He belongs to the County Medical Society, 
and was at one time its president. For years 
he has devoted his leisure to reading, and has 
studied the natural sciences, including astron- 
omy. In his religious belief he is a Baptist, 
and for many years has been prominently iden- 
tified with tiiat church. 



Lh LI ROSE, former superintendent of the 

J! Howe's Cave Lime and Cement 

Company and proprietor of a general mer- 
chandise store, is now retired from business 
and residing at Central Bridge, N. Y. He was 
born in Maryland, Otsego County, N. Y. , on 
February 20, 1840, son of Nathan and Deborah 
(Morehouse) Rose. He comes of English 
stock. 

His paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Rose, 
probably a native of Massachusetts, said to have 
been the descendant of one of the early settlers 
of that State (whether of Thomas Rose, who 
was an inhabitant of Scituate, Plymouth 
County, before 1660, or of another emigrant, 
the present writer is unable to say), came to 
Columbia County, New York, in young man- 
hood. From Columbia County Nathaniel 
Rose removed to Warren, Herkimer County, 
N. Y., and finally to Maryland, N.Y., where 
he spent the last years of his life. He started 
as a poor boy, but before he died he accumu- 
lated a large property, chiefly comprised in 
land. He was able to give to each of his si.\ 
sons a fine farm, and then had some three hun- 
dred acres left for himself. Each son also re- 




ICI.I ROSE. 




MRS. ELI ROSE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



335 



ceived a pair of horses, farm stock, and grain 
for jilanting. Nathaniel Rose was a Captain 
in the State militia. He died at the age of 
seventy-six years. His wife, who died at the 
age of seventy-five, was before her marriage 
Lovina Spencer. Her family were people of 
importance in Columbia County. She was the 
mother of eight children, all of whom married 
and had families. Both she and her husband 
were members of the Baptist church, and were 
active and liberal in their support of all church 
matters. So interested were they that they 
were instrumental in building a house of wor- 
ship almost without assistance from others. 

Nathan Rose, son of Nathaniel and father of 
Eli Rose, was born in Columbia County, New 
York, and was educated in the common 
schools there. Shortly after his marriage he 
settled upon the farm given him by his father, 
and there engaged in farming with great suc- 
cess. In time he developed dairying to some 
extent and also lumbering, carrying on in the 
last-named industry a very large business. He 
was active in town affairs and a liberal sup- 
porter of the Baptist church. He died at the 
age of sixty-nine. His wife, Deborah, who 
died at the age of eighty-one, was a daughter 
of James Morehouse, a farmer on an extensive 
scale, residing at Maryland, N. Y. Her grand- 
father, who lived to be eighty-five years of 
age, was one of the early pioneers of that 
place. Her father was killed when only thirty- 
four years old by being tlirown from a horse. 
Her mother, whose maiden name was Jane Burn- 
side, was born in Maryland and died at the age 
of sixty. She was twice married, and had five 



children by her first marriage and three by the 
second. All of them grew to maturit)', but all 
are now deceased save one. Nathan and Deb- 
orah Rose were the parents of five children, 
namely: John J., of Maryland, N.Y. ; Betsey, 
who is the wife of Harvey Baker, of Oneonta ; 
Mary, who married Amos Graves, of Glens 
Falls, now deceased; Lovina, who is the 
widow of Nelson Goodrich, of Oneonta; and 
Eli, the sjoecial subject of this sketch. 

Eli Rose received a public-school education, 
and subsequently assisted his father on the 
farm until about twenty-seven years of age. 
He also taught school for two terms. In 1867 
he entered the employ of the Howe's Cave 
Lime and Cement Company, which had just 
been formed, as book-keeper. The following 
year he purchased an interest in the business, 
and he was afterward promoted through the po- 
sition of foreman to general manager and treas- 
urer. He had sometimes as many as eighty 
men under his charge; and, besides managing 
the lime and cement business, he operated a 
general merchandise store, which he started in 
1868 and which is now one of the oldest in the 
county. In February, 1898, Mr. Rose sold 
all his interests at Howe's Cave to a wealthy 
syndicate, and removed to Central Bridge, 
N. Y. , where he is now living. 

A word in regard to the cement company 
with which he was so long connected may be 
interesting to the reader. This company was 
incorporated under the laws of the State of 
New York in 1867 by Hon. John Westover, of 
Richmondville, N. Y. , Jared Goodyear, of 
Colliers, N.Y. , and E. R. Ford and Harvey 



336 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Barker, of Oneonta, N.Y. , as charter members 
and owners. The seventy or more acres of 
land owned by the company were rude and 
rugged in the extreme, and no appliances were 
at hand. But generous ledges of limestone 
gave promise of rich reward to those who 
should quarry it. Houses for the employees, 
barns for the work horses, shops, kilns, and 
mills were erected; and derricks, engines, and 
other appliances were brought here. Fortu- 
nately for the company, the line of the Albany 
& Susquehanna, now a part of the D. & H. C. 
Company, ran near — so near, in fact, that 
often in blasting large pieces of rock were 
thrown on the track. The ledge nearest the 
railroad, which is of dark blue limestone, is 
forty-four feet thick, and is composed, of 
course, of comparatively thin and light rock. 
Next above this is a ridge of gray limestone in 
massive blocks and of excellent quality and 
soundness, such as are eminently suitable for 
the construction of piers, abutments, canal 
lock.s, retaining walls, and all kinds of massive 
masonry. The lime produced in the kilns is 
very strong, adhesive, and of great durability. 
Its lasting virtue is well shown in the stone 
fort at Schoharie Court House, which was built 
more than a hundred years ago, and as yet 
presents no imperfection of either stone or 
mortar. Among the im])ortant structures in 
which this cement has been employed are the 
following: the new capitol at Albany; Hol- 
land House, New York City; the Scranton 
Steel Works ; Troy Steel and Iron Works ; and 
the reservoir at Fair Haven, Vt. As all the 
process of manufacture and the disposal of the 



output was under Mr. Rose's supervision until 
his recent retirement, no further commentary 
upon his ability both as an executive officer 
and as a financier is needed. 

Mr. Rose was married in 1S70 to Mary C. 
Warner, who was born in Richmondville, 
daughter of Henry Warner. Her father, a 
farmer, who was a descendant of an old and 
honored family, died at the age of seventy 
years. Her grandfather and great-grandfather 
Warner were both carried captives to Canada 
by the Indians and held there as prisoners for 
a year. Mr. and Mrs. Rose have one daugh- 
ter, Sophina, who assists her father in the 
store. In politics Mr. Rose is a Republican. 
He is a member of the Lutheran church, and 
is a trustee of the society. His wife and 
daughter are also members of the church. 




UGAR HARTT, Greenville's veteran 
merchant, member of the firm of 
J. G. & E. Hartt, was born on Norton Hill in 
this town on January 2, 182S, his parents being 
John and Salome (Miller) Hartt. His paternal 
grandfather, Joseph Hartt, was a native of 
Dutchess County, New York. The maiden 
name of his grandmother was Polly Green. 

John Hartt, the father, was born in Harts- 
ville, Dutchess County, and was a shoemaker 
by trade. He came to Norton Hill in 1S20, 
previous to his marriage, and carried on a suc- 
cessful business here during the remainder of 
his working life. He hired a number of 
hands, and did considerable custom work. 
His death occurred at the age of seventy-four. 



BIOGRAPHICAL KEVIEW 



337 



He and his wife were members of the Chris- 
tian church ; and he was a Deacon and active 
worker in the church. The house of worship 
was four miles from tlieir home. In politics 
he was a Republican. Mrs. Salome Miller 
Hartt was born in Dutchess County. She 
lived to be eighty-seven years old. Of her 
seven children, five are living, namely: Mary 
Ann, who resides in Greenville; Edgar, the 
direct subject of this biography; John G. , a 
sketch of whose life appears below ; William 
B. ; and George A., who is in the employ of 
John G. Myers, of Albany. 

Mr. Edgar Hartt received a practical educa- 
tion in the public schools of Norton Hill. 
His first business experience was in shoemak- 
ing, which he learned by working with his 
father. He followed his trade about nine 
years. The partnership with his brother was 
formed in 1856, at the old stand; and three 
years later the store where they are now doing 
business was built. It is doubtful if there is 
a single partnership in the State that has ex- 
isted longer than this. Messrs. Hartt still 
buy goods in some instances of the firms from 
whom they bought when they began business. 
They carry a very complete stock of general 
merchandise, including dry goods, groceries, 
boots and shoes, ready-made clothing, hats and 
caps, crockery and glassware, oil cloth, hard- 
ware, grain, drugs and patent medicines, wall 
paper and stationery. The business has grown 
from year to year with the growth of the vil- 
lage, which has nearly doubled in size since 
they began. 

In i860 Mr. Hartt married Augusta Chap- 



man, a native of Westerlo and daughter of 
Robert and Eliza Chapman, her father a black- 
smith. ]5oth her parents died at the age of 
eighty. They had three children, two of 
whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Hartt have 
three children — Gertrude, Clara, and Henry 
G. Gertrude is the wife of G. W. Palen, a 
tanner residing in Western Pennsylvania, near 
DuBois. Clara resides with her parents. 
Henry G. Hartt is a partner in the firm of 
Colier & Co., dry-goods merchants at Cox- 
sackie, where they carry on a most successful 
business. He married Grace Vanderburjc. 



f^OHN G. HARTT, brother of Edgar and 
his partner, was born at Norton Hill on 
October 3, 1829. Upon leaving home 
and starting life for himself, he entered the 
employ of Thomas Saxon in South Westerlo. 

From that place he came to Greenville and 
began working for Mr. Bentley, with whom he 
remained for the next nine years, during the 
first three of which he worked for fifty dollars 
a year and found his own clothes. His hours 
were from six o'clock in the morning to nine 
o'clock in the evening, and he often had to 
work until midnight. His motto always was 
that, no matter how small an amount he earned, 
he must save a little; and he always kept to 
it. He left Mr. Bentley to join his brother in 
business, starting, as has been said, in the old 
corner store. 

Mr. Hartt married in 1859 Jane A. Tall- 
madge, a native of Greenville, N. Y. Her 
father, Henry Tallmadge, a native of Poult- 



338 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ney, Vt. , was a physician by profession ; but 
he came to Coxsackie, and engaged in mercan- 
tile business there. He died at the age of 
sixty -three. His wife, whose name before 
marriage was Jane A. Reed, was born in Cox- 
sackie, and died in Greenville at the age of 
seventy-five. She bore him eight children. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hartt have only one chiUl, Ar- 
thur, who is a merchant at Ravena, Albany 
County, this State, and Postmaster in that 
place. He was in the Greenville Local print- 
ing-office for nine years, and has taken an ac- 
tive part in politics. He married Rose W'il- 
sey, and has one son, Harold. 

Both John and Kdgar Hartt are prominent 
members of the Republican party in this sec- 
tion. The former has been Town Clerk and 
Assistant Postmaster. Neither has cared for 
public office. ]5oth arc attendants of the Pres- 
byterian church, and their wives and the three 
children of Mr. lulgar Hartt are members of 
the church. The brothers are among the best- 
known men in the county, and command uni- 
versal esteem. 



(S>r I.BF.RT G. ROSEKRAUS, Esq., a 
^^ geneial merchant in Fulton, Schoharie 
V — County, was born May 5, 1837, in 
Berne, Albany C(junty, a son of Holmes Rose- 
kraus, M. D. His paternal grandfather, Henr)- 
Rosekraus, removed from Westerlo, N.Y. , to 
Wright, Schoharie County, when in the prime 
of a vigorous manhood, and from that time 
until his death, at the age of fourscore years, 
was engaged as a tiller of the soil. His wife, 



whose maiden name was Holmes, also lived to 
be eighty years old, and dying left five chil- 
dren ; namely. Holmes, P"rederick, Henry, 
Phebe P'lansburgh, and Mrs. Hungerford. 

Holmes Rosekraus received his elementary 
education in the common schools of Albany 
County, and after reading medicine for a time 
with competent instructors, entered the Al- 
bany Medical College, from which he was 
graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine. Locating at once in Berne, Albany 
County, he built up a very large practice in 
that town and vicinity, and became one of its 
most successful and favorably known physi- 
cians. After an active practice of thirty 
years, he passed to the higher life, at the age 
of fifty-four. He was deeply interested in 
local affairs, and served a number of years as 
Town Superintendent. He was a regular at- 
tendant of the Baptist church, of which his 
wife was a consistent member. He married 
Melinda Weidman, one of the three children 
of Jacob Weidman, a prominent farmer of 
Berne. Twelve children were born of this 
luiion, and six of them survive, namely : 
Jacob; Albert, the sj^ecial subject of this 
sketch ; James, a professor of music, and a 
minister; Thomas; Washington; and Eliza- 
beth. All of the children are gifted with ex- 
ceptional musical talent, and all but two are 
quite noted throughout Schoharie County. 
The mother died at the age of seventy-five 
years. 

Albert Rosekraus attended the public schools 
of Berne until ten years old, and then came to 
Middleburg, in this county, where he contin- 




A. L. KERK. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



341 



iicd his studies at the high school and acad- 
emy, and also woiked for a while as a clerk. 
Going then to Albany, he served an appren- 
ticeship of two years and a half at the printer's 
trade; but, not liking it well enough to con- 
tinue it, he returned to Middleburg, where he 
was subsequently employed as a clerk ten 
years. Coming in 1864 to Fulton, he bought 
an interest in his present store, and in partner- 
ship with Charles Watson carried on an exten- 
sive business for three years. The partnership 
being then dissolved, he returned to Middle- 
burg, where for the ensuing three years he 
was engaged in mercantile pursuits in the 
store occupying the present site of Wellington 
Bassler's establishment. Disposing of his 
property there, Mr. Rosekraus then bought his 
present store in Fulton, and has since carried 
on a very large and successful business as a 
general merchant. 

In politics he is prominently identified with 
the Democratic party, which he has served 
three years as one of the Democratic County 
Committee. He has been Justice of the Peace 
si.xteen years, an ofTfice which he still holds, 
his present term not expiring until igoo. He 
has been Town Clerk two terms, and on three 
occasions has received the nomination for 
County Clerk. He was one of the promoters 
of the Fulton Valley Telephone Company, of 
which he has been a stockholder and a director 
several years. F'raternally, he is a member of 
Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, F. & A. M., 
which he assisted in organizing, and he was 
for some years the chorister. He belongs to 
the Reformed church. He has served a num- 



ber of years as a Deacon of the church, and he 
was for a long time the organist and chorister. 
He has also been actively identified with its 
Sunday-school as a teacher and superintendent 
and as the leader of singing. 

In October, 1858, Mr. Rosekraus married 
Margaret Zeh, daughter of Joseph Zeh, a well- 
known farmer and an old and respected resi- 
dent of Seward. She died at the age of three- 
score years, leaving three children, namely: 
Pauline, a teacher in Fulton; Dora, who was 
also a teacher for some years, and now is the 
wife of J. Brewster, a farmer in Seward; and 
Ida, who is the wife of Edwin Lawyer, and has 
one child, Albert. After the death of his first 
wife, Mr. Rosekraus married Mary Follett, 
daughter of John Follett, a cooper, of Fulton, 
their union being solemnized in October, 1S97. 




LBERT L. KERR, general merchant 
and Postmaster at Haines Falls, N.Y., 
was born in this village, September 
18, 1862. He is the son of Robert and Mar- 
garet A. (Haines) Kerr. His father was born 
at Tannensville, and his mother was born at 
Haines Falls. His paternal grandfather, 
George Kerr, who was a native of Ireland, 
came to America at the age of fourteen, and 
later settled in Tannersville, where he followed 
farming. George Kerr died at the age of sixty. 
Robert Kerr, father of Albert L., engaged 
in agricultural pursuits in this section when a 
young man, and before the advent of railroads 
ran a stage-coach to Catskill. Since 1891 he 
has resided here summers, and spent his win- 



342 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ters in New York City. He is now engaged in 
selling Christmas trees, cutting and shipping 
them to the metropolis, where they find a ready 
market. In politics he is a Republican. His 
wife, Margaret A., daughter of Peter B. 
Haines, formerly of this village, is a descend- 
ant of John Haines, who went from Staten 
Island to Putnam County, New York, where 
he died in 1771. Elijah Haines, son of John, 
moved from Putnam County to Greene County 
about the year 1779, as a pioneer, and spent 
the rest of his life here; and her grandfather, 
Edward, who was born in Greene County, New 
York, became a prosperous farmer in this 
county. Peter B. Haines, father of Mrs. Kerr, 
erected the first dwelling on the site of the 
Catskill Mountain House. He followed farm- 
ing. He also carried on a saw-mill, and was 
a useful citizen. He had a family of ten chil- 
dren. Robert and Margaret A. Kerr have two 
children: Gertrude, who married Cornelius H. 
Legg, of Haines Corners ; and Albert L. , the 
subject of this sketch. The parents were 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Albert L. Kerr attended the common schools. 
At the age of twenty he took a clerkship in 
the post-office in this place, and later went to 
Tannersville, where he occupied the same posi- 
tion in the post-office under Mr. Mulford for 
three months (the fall season). In 1888 he 
engaged in general mercantile business on his 
own account at Haines Falls; and, the post- 
office having been removed to his store, he 
acted as Postmaster thirteen month.s. He then 
purchased the building in which he is now 
located. In 1S98 he was appointed Post- 



master, and in order to more conveniently 
handle the business, which is largely increased 
during the summer, he erected a special post- 
office building adjoining his store. This office 
transacts a large money order business, has 
eight mails per day, averaging five sacks of 
first-class matter and three of papers; and 
there are two regular mails on Sunday. 

In 1888 Mr. Kerr married Belle B. Brewer, 
daughter of Nathan and Mary (Williams) 
Brewer, of this town. Her grandfather, Sam- 
uel Brewer, was born in Connecticut. Her 
father was a prosperous farmer here, dying at 
the age of seventy ; and her mother, who was 
born in Colchester, N.Y., daughter of Thomas 
Williams, died at the age of forty-three. Na- 
than and Mary Brewer had four children — 
Charlotte, Belle B., Scott, and Mott. Char- 
lotte married Norman Kerr. Mr. and Mrs. 
Albert L. Kerr have had four children, two of 
whom are living: Louis A. ; and Harold 
Maine, who was born February 15, 1898, a 
day made memorable by the blowing up of the 
battleship "Maine" in Havana Harbor. 

Mr. Kerr is a Republican in politics. He 
attends the Methodist Episcopal church. 



ACOB VAN VALKENBURGH, M.D., 
of .Sharon, .Schoharie County, N. Y. , 
was born in this town, June 13, 1S39, 
son of Henry and Olive L. (Roth) Van Valk- 
enburgh. His ancestors were Germans from 
the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine, or Pfalz, 
Germany. They came in the great Palatinate 
c.\odus about 1709. The original surname was 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



343 



Falkenburg. Some members of the family 
wrote it Valkenburg, and about the beginning 
of the present century it assumed its present 
form, Van Valkenburgh. 

Dr. Van Valkenburgh is a lineal descendant 
in the sixth generation of Arnold Van Valken- 
burgh, who came to America accompanied by 
his wife and one son, the latter being then 
eight years old. Arnold Van Valkenburgh re- 
sided in Ulster County, New York, from 1709 
to 1 71 3, when he came to Schoharie County, 
and acquired from the Indians a tract of land. 
His son, John Joseph Van Valkenburgh, also 
resided in this county. The latter, who was 
the great-great-grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, served in the French and Indian 
War as an Ensign. He was also a private in 
Colonel Kilian Van Rensselaer's regiment 
in the Revolutionary War, and acted as a 
scout. Pie had three sons — Adam, Joachim, 
and Joseph. The second son, Joachim, was 
shot by an Indian at Jefferson Lake in this 
county. 

The third Joseph, who was Dr. Van Valk- 
enburgh 's great-grandfather, was born in 1744. 
He and his two brothers served in the Revo- 
lutionary War as privates in a regiment com- 
manded by Colonel Peter Vrooman. Joseph 
Van Valkenburgh was the first of the family to 
locate in Sharon. The farm he cleared is now 
owned by John J. Van Valkenburgh, a distant 
relative of Dr. Jacob Van Valkenburgh. The 
log house of the pioneer stood about one mile 
from his great-grandson's residence. Joseph 
Van Valkenburgh married Magdaline Brown, 
who was born in 1742. Their children were : 



Lana, Merie, Eve, Adam, John Joseph, Eliza- 
beth, Nancy, Peter, Merie (second), Margaret, 
Jacob, Joachim, and Henry. Joseph, the 
father, died March 28, 181 5. 

John Joseph Van Valkenburgh, second, the 
Doctor's grandfather, was born in Schoharie, 
July 23, 1771. The greater 'part of his life 
was spent in Sharon, where he owned a well- 
cultivated farm of one hundred and forty-four 
acres. He was one of the founders of the Bel- 
linger sect, being a Calvinist in religious be- 
lief. Of reserved disposition, he held aloof 
from public affairs. During the War of 18 12 
he was drafted ; but, being unable to go to the 
front, he furnished a substitute. He died on 
his birthday, July 23, 1855. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Mary Bender, was born in 
Bethlehem, Albany County, N.Y., October 
13, 1776, and died June 4, i860. Their 
children were: Henry, Lana, Christian, Will- 
iam, Maria, John, Joseph, Stephen, and Eliza- 
beth. Joseph served in the Mexican War, 
was wounded at the battle of Chepultepec, and 
subsequently drew a pension. 

Henry Van Valkenburgh, Dr. Van Valken- 
burgh's father, was born in Sharon, May 14, 
1798. He belonged to the Bellinger church, 
of which he was Elder for many years. Study- 
ing theology, he became an evangelist, in 
which capacity he was widely known through- 
out New York and New Jersey. He left the 
homestead after his first marriage, but contin- 
ued to make general farming his chief occupa- 
tion. He died in this town, April 18, 1866. 
For his first wife he married Rachael Bloom- 
ingdale, who was born June 19, 1803, and who 



344 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



died April 26, 1835, leaving one son, Henry 
H. The latter, when fifteen years old, went 
to reside with a bachelor uncle in the town of 
North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, N.Y. , 
whose property he afterward inherited ; and he 
became a prosperous fanner and dairyman. 
He married, and at his death left five children. 
For his second wife Henry Van Valkenburgh 
married Olive L. Roth, who was born in Mas- 
sachusetts, July 31, 1 8 10, daughter of Joseph 
Roth. She was a descendant of John Roth, 
an Englishman, who was the progenitor of a 
long line of piiysicians and surgeons of Ux- 
bridge, England. Some of her brothers were 
well known as bridge-builders and mechanics. 
She was given a good education, and was par- 
ticularly proficient in vocal music. She was 
reared a Calvinist in religion. She died Au- 
gust 23, 1874, having been the mother of four 
children — Jacob, Albert A., Joseph, and Em- 
ily. Albert A., who was a farmer, enlisted 
in Company E, Forty-third Regiment, New 
York Volunteers, with which he ser\-ed in the 
Civil War for two years, at the end of that 
time being assigned to the invalid corps. He 
died soon after his return from the army. 
Joseph, who is a merchant in Canby, Minn., 
is married, and has a family of five children. 
Emily became the wife of David Ottman, of 
Cobleskill. 

Jacob Van Valkenburgh began his education 
in the district schools, and at a later date stud- 
ied the classics and high mathematics under 
the direction of a private tutor. He afterward 
attended the Troy Academy, then presided 
over by Professor Wilson; and his classical 



studies were completed at the Hartwick Semi- 
nary. He taught school for a time, and also 
studied theology and medicine, with the view 
of becoming a missionary, but finally gave his 
whole attention to medicine. Beginning the 
study of that profession with Dr. William H. 
Parsons, an eclectic physician of Sharon, 
N.Y. , he later received instruction from Dr. 
Robert lildredge, and acquired a knowledge 
of botanic medicine under Dr. John Praymer. 
He also studied two years with Dr. J. S. Her- 
rick, an allopathic physician of Argusville, 
N.Y. ; and he received his degree from the 
Eclectic Medical College of Philadelphia, 
Pa., known as the Paine School, January 22, 
1862. Locating in Charleston, N. Y. , in 
April of that year, during the first five years 
of his practice he was obliged to contend 
against the animosity then existing between 
the eclectic and regular schools of medicine; 
but the skill he displayed in his profession at 
length gained for him the recognition of his 
opponents, and he has since received honorary 
degrees from two medical colleges. In 1867 
he moved from Charleston to Sharon, where he 
has a lucrative practice. 

Dr. Van Valkenburgh was one of the organ- 
izers of the Eclectic Medical Society of the 
State of New York, being one of the charter 
members named in the article of incorporation 
by the legislature of the State. He was corre- 
sponding secretary of the society, and served 
on various committees. He was also one of 
the organizers of the Twenty-third Senatorial 
District Medical Society, now known as the 
Susquehanna District Medical Society, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



345 



was one of its censors. He has been health 
officer many years, acts as a Notary Public, 
and was a trustee of Slate Hill Cemetery. 
He was a trustee of the public school in his 
village for many years. He delivers extem- 
poraneous address on public occasions, on 
patriotic, educational, or religious subjects; 
frequently lectures to various societies, and 
writes for the medical and secular press. A 
book-lover and a close student from his boy- 
hood, he has gathered a large library, to which 
he makes additions every year. Never idle, 
he employs each moment in some useful occu- 
pation. He owns a farm, and is out of debt. 
In politics he was formerly a Republican, but 
supported the candidacy of William J. Bryan 
in 1896. While now a rojDulist, he loyally 
supports President McKinley and Go\-ernor 
Roosevelt. 

Dr. Van Valkenburgh married Harriet 
Moulton, daughter of Gurdon Moulton, of 
Lykers, Montgomery County, N. Y. , and of 
English ancestry. Mrs. Van Valkenburgh, 
who was a teacher in the public schools, died 
May 31, 1892. She was the mother of four 
children, namely: Emma, widow of Irving A. 
Parsons; Minnie, who married Charles Van 
Home; Moulton, who died at the age of 
twenty months; and Flora, who resides at 
home with her father. The daughters are all 
graduates of the Cobleskill High School, and 
the first and second were teachers prior to their 
marriage. 

Dr. Van Valkenburgh assisted in building 
the Methodist Episcopal church, which stands 
on land given by him for that purpose. He 



has served as steward and trustee and as super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school. He is also a 
class leader, and acts as janitor without fee or 
reward. He is a Master Mason, having been 
a member for thirty years, or since 1869, of 
Cobleskill Lodge, No. 394, F. & A. M. 




DWARD A. GIFFORD, the well-known 
lawyer of Athens, N. Y., for si.x 
years District Attorney, was born in this town 
on December 22, 1856. He is a son of Al- 
fred and Christina (Hollenbeck) Gifford, and 
grandson of Joseph Gifford, late a farmer in 
Rensselaerville, N.Y. His grandfather died 
at the age of seventy-four, and his grand- 
mother died at the age of eighty. Their chil- 
dren were: John, Rufus, Abraham, Warren, 
Alfred, Margaret, Sophia, James, and Jere- 
miah. 

Alfred Gifford was born in Rensselaerville, 
Albany County, and was reared on a farm 
there. Coming to Greene County in 1868, he 
settled in New Baltimore, where he remained 
ten years. After that he was in Coxsackie for 
ten years, and he then went on the road as 
agent for the Capitol City Iron Works Com- 
pany of Albany. He has travelled all over 
the country in the interests of their business. 
His political principles are Republican. He 
and his wife are members of the Christian 
church, and reside in Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. 
Gifford 's parents were Abraham and Jane (Van 
Horsen) Hollenbeck, both of Dutch ancestry; 
and her paternal grandparents were Casper and 
Christina Hollenbeck. Her father was for 



346 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



iiKiny years one of the pniminent men of 
Athens. He had several ihilchen. Alfred 
and Christina Gifford are the parents of five 
sons — Lawrence F. , Kdward A., Frederick 
W., George B., and William L. George B. 
and Lawrence V. Gifford are in Philadelphia. 
William L. and l<"redciick W. Giff<ird reside 
in Boston, Mass. 

l^dvvarcl A. Gifford was reared on a farm, 
and received his elementary education in the 
common schools, subsequently continuing his 
studies at home. Farly in life he formed the 
resolve to achieve a prosi^erous career. He 
obtained a legal clerkshiji in the office of J. 
Washington Hiseerd, of Coxsackie, and during 
his three years' stay there gained much valua- 
ble knowledge and experience. He then en- 
tered the Law Department of Union Univer- 
sity at Albany, N.Y. ; and on January 25, 
1884, four months before his graduation there- 
from, he was admitted to the bar in Albany, 
passing a brilliant examination. Three years 
later, after successful practice of his profession 
in New York City, he abandoned it in order to 
accept a position as superintendent and general 
passenger agent and excursion agent of the 
Seneca F'alls & Cayuga Lake Railroad Com- 
pany, and of the Cayuga Lake Park Company 
at Seneca Falls, this .State. These offices he 
held until October, 1889; and the folhnving 
month he again took up the practice of law, 
settling in Athens. 

In November, 1892, he was elected District 
Attorney, being the second Republican to hold 
that office in Greene County. Re-elected in 
1895, he served until 1898, a period of six 



years in all. As District Att<irney, Mr. Gif- 
ford won a high re|iutation for ability and con- 
scientious devotion to official duty. He con- 
ducted without assistance the prosecution of 
George W. Hess, indicted for murder in the 
second degree for the killing of Hezekiah 
Bedell (a colored man) ; also of Pasquale Ca- 
scrta, who was tried for murder in the second 
degree for the killing of his cousin, Joseph 
Caserta. In the first case he had against him 
the Hon. Jacob H. Chute and the Hon. Eu- 
gene liurlingame, of Albany, but secured the 
conviction of Hess. In the second case the 
accused was defended liy I\gbert Palmer, Esq., 
of Catskill ; but again Mr. Gifford won his case, 
and convicted Caserta of murder in the second 
degree, as charged in the indictment. Both 
cases excited great public interest, and rank 
among the most celebrated criminal cases ever 
tried in Greene County. Mr. Gifford is at the 
present time attorney for the Union Commer- 
cial Co-operati\'e Bank of Albnnv, for the town 
of Athens. 

Mr. Gifford was marrietl on June 22, 1881, 
to ]'",lla J. Porter, of Athens, eldest ilaughter of 
Clark and Charlotte C. (Mead) Porter. Her 
paternal grandfather was Israel R. Porter, who 
died in 1874; and her maternal grandfather was 
Daniel Mead. Clark Porter was born in Scho- 
harie County, but in childhood mo\'ed with his 
parents to a farm in the town of Athens, where 
he still resides. He is a prominent towns- 
man, having been .Superxisor, Insjiector of 
Elections, and for fifteen or twenty years As- 
sessor. They had a family of seven children; 
namely, l^la J. (Mrs. Clifford), Clark I., 




AM)K1.W K.W.MOXD. 



I 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



349 



Oliver G., Lottie C, Addison W., William, 
and J. Melvin. All are living except 
William. 

Mr. Gilford i.s a member of the Knights of 
Pythias Lodge, No. 129, of Athens, and Grand 
Master of the E.xchequer of the Grand Lodge 
of the Knights of Pythias of the State of New 
York. He is also a member of the Catskill 
Tribe of Red Men, and of the Board of Trade 
of Athens, and is vice-president of the Elec- 
tric Light Company of his town. 



tKV. ANDREW VAN VRANKEN 
RAYMOND, D.D., LL.D, president 
— ^ of Lhiion University, Schenectady, 
was born at Vischer's Ferr)-, Saratoga County, 
N.Y., August 8, 1854, son of the Rev. Henry 
Augustus and Catharine M. Raymond. On 
the paternal side he is descended from a long 
line of American ancestors of English origin, 
the first of whom crossed the Atlantic in 1629. 
The grandfather was Clapp Raymond, a native 
of Norvvalk, Conn. 

The Rev. Henry Augustus Raymond, the 
father, was born in Patterson, Putnam County, 
N.Y. , May 30, 1804. He was graduated at 
Yale University with the class of 1825; and, 
entering the ministry, he labored in tlic Dutch 
Reformed churches in New York State during 
the greater part of his active period. 

Andrew Van Vranken Raymond completed 
the regular course of study at the Troy High 
School in 1871, was graduated from Union 
College in 1775, and from the New Bruns- 
wick Theological Seminary in 1878. His 



initial call was to the First Reformed 
Church in Paterson, N.J., where he remained 
from 1878 to 1 88 1. He occupied the pul- 
pit of Trinity Reformed Church, Plainfield, 
N.J., for the succeeding si.\ years; and, ac- 
cepting a call to the pastorate of the Fourth 
Presbyterian Church, Albany, he labored in 
tiiat city for seven years, or until 1894. He 
was the ninth pastor of that church, and the 
fifth occupant of its pulpit to be selected for 
college work, having been chosen president 
of Union University in 1894. He was hon- 
ored by his Alma Mater with the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity in 1S87 and by Williams 
College with that of Doctor of Laws in 1894. 
He was elected moderator of the Presbyterian 
Synod of New York in 1891 ; was a commis- 
sioner to the General Assembly of the Presby- 
terian church for the years 1888, 1891, and 
1893. He belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa and 
the Alpha Delta Phi Societies. 




LMER E. PELHAM, proprietor of "The 
Kenwood," at Haines Falls, town 
of Hunter, Greene County, N. Y., was born 
near Palenville, this county, August 30, 1863, 
son of Snyder and Christina (Sa.xe) Pelham. 
His parents are natives of the same town, 
and his grandfather, Peter Pelham, was a 
lifelong resident of the vicinity of Palen- 
ville. His father learned the trade of a black- 
smith, which he followed near Palenville many 
years, and he is still living at his former place 
of business. He is a Republican in politics. 
His wife, Christina, was a daughter of Jere- 



3S« 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



miah Saxe, a farmer near Palenville. She 
is the mother of four sons, all of whom are 
living; namely, Jeremiah P., Harvey C. , 
Elmer E., and Adam A. The jiarents attend 
the Reformed church. 

Elmer E. Pelham was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native town, and remained 
at home until sixteen years of age. He then 
came to the Haines Falls House, where he was 
employed for twelve years, and at the expira- 
tion of that time he erected the present house, 
known as "The Kenwood," situated near the 
Haines Corners railroad station. It is located 
on high ground, is equipped with all modern 
improvements, and has accommodations for 
fifty jaeople. Mr. Pelham has been in the 
boarding business nearly ten years, has been 
successful, and is well known throughout the 
county. 

In 1888 Mr. Pelham was united in marriage 
with Elida F. Fatum, daughter of Henry 
l-'atum, of Saugerties, N.Y. Mr. and Mrs. 
Pelham have one son, Fred E. 




DWARD ADAMS, wholesale and retail 
.dealer in meat at Haines Falls, N. Y. , 
was born in Durham, Greene County, I'ebruary 
I, 1838, son of Seymour and Maria (Chidister) 
Adams. His grandfather, Joseph Adams, who 
was a native of Connecticut and of English 
descent, carried on a farm in the vicinity of 
Hartford when a young man, later moving to 
Durham, near Cornwallville, where he spent 
some years, and then settled on a farm in 
Cairo, where he died at the advanced age of 



ninety-seven years. Grandfather's wife, with 
whom he lived for over seventy years, died at 
the age of ninety-nine years and six months. 
She was the mother of five children. 

Seymour Adams, father of Edward, was born 
in Hartford, Conn., and was educated in the 
common schools. He began to support him- 
self by conducting a farm on shares, later 
coming to Cairo, where he purchased a piece 
of property and rented it to the agricultural 
society. He was engaged in business in the 
village of Cairo for a time, and on relinquish- 
ing that he gave his whole attention to his 
farm, which was devoted to dairy purposes. 
F'or forty-four years he supplied the Catskill 
Mountain House with poultry, butter, and 
eggs. In politics he usually votetl the Repub- 
lican ticket, and was well known throughout 
the county. He was a charter member of the 
Masonic lodge in Cairo. His wife, Maria, 
was a daughter of William Chidister, of Kiska- 
tom. Her father was a farmer, and in early 
life owned the proiK'rt}' which was later pur- 
chased by her husband. The last years of his 
life were spent in retirement at Cairo, where he 
died at the age of eighty-two. Seymour and 
Maria C. Adams were the parents of five chil- 
dren ; namely, Edward, Emily, William, liliz- 
abeth, and Eliza. lunily married William 
Lewis, of Cairo, N.Y. ; William resides in 
Rensselaer County, New York; and Eliza died 
at the age of thirty-five. 

Edward Adams was educated in the common 
schools. He worked on a farm in Acra until 
his marriage, when he jnuxhased a farm in 
Cairo, on which he followed farming until 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3SI- 



1870. In that year he came to his present lo- 
cation, three and one-half miles from Tanners- 
ville, on the Little Delaware Turnpike, and 
started in the meat business, having as a sole 
customer the Catskill Mountain House, which 
he has supplied for the past twenty-eight years. 
As the hotels increased in number, he added 
to his list of patrons the Laurel House, the 
Hotel Kaaterskill, and others, his business 
becoming extensive. He supplied in 1898 
two hundred and thirty-two hotels and board- 
ing-houses, selling in five Saturdays, from 
July 30 to August 27, forty-four thousand 
eight hundred and ninety-seven pounds of meat. 
He runs three two-horse and two one-horse 
wagons, and employs seventeen men. He 
buys the choicest cuts of beef, slaughtered for 
him in New York, and uses about two carloads 
per week. He kills all the lamb and veal on 
his own premises, employing a buyer of live 
stock on the road, and keeps from ten to twelve 
tons of beef on hand at all times during the 
summer, his two refrigerators holding five hun- 
dred tons of ice. By adhering to the prin- 
ciple of fair dealing he has built up this large 
trade unaided. His residence, barn, ice-house, 
slaughter-house, and refrigerators were built 
under his personal supervision. Pie keeps ten 
horses and five wagons for delivering his meat. 
He also owns a farm of one hundred acres. 

In 1859 Mr. Adams married Adelia A. 
Crary, a native of Delaware County, adopted 
daughter of Jacob Craft. They have three 
children: Jennie and Jessie, twins; and Ida 
May. Jennie married George White, a hotel- 
keeper near East Durham, N.Y. , son of Will- 



iam White; and she has one son, Edward. 
Jessie married Sherwood H. Camp, a carpen- 
ter in Catskill, N.Y. , son of Harmon Camp, 
formerly of Windham, N.Y. , and has one 
daughter, Edna. Ida May married Joseph 
Hand, of New York City, formerly manager of 
Marlboro Hotel and now clerk for a broker in 
Wall Street. They have three children — Eva, 
Florence, and Joseph. 

Mr. Adams is a Democrat in politics, and 
takes an active interest in political matters. 
He was Supervisor one term in Cairo, but re- 
fused a renomination. He is a charter mem- 
ber of Kademak Lodge, No. 693, F. & A. M., 
was Junior Warden when the lodge was first 
established, and is one of the few now living 
who organized the lodge. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Royal Arch Masons. He is liberal 
in his religious belief and a strict observer of 
Sunday as a day of rest. 



TTAHARLES H. RAMSEY, president of 
I J| the Howe's Cave Association, was 
^ ' born in Lawyersville, N. Y. , on Jan- 
uary 3, 1853, son of the Hon. Joseph Henry 
and Sarah (Boyce) Ramsey. He comes from 
a line of able and honest men and stanch Re- 
publicans. His great-great-grandfather was 
one of the pioneer settlers of Schoharie 
County. Frederick Ramsey, his grandfather, 
was born in Guilderland, and worked there for 
a time at his trade, which was that of black- 
smith. He subsequently settled on a farm in 
Cobleskill, where he spent the rest of his life, 
attaining the age of seventy-eight years. He 



352 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



died at the liome of one of his daughters. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Sarah \'an 
Schaick, lived to the advanced age of ninety- 
four. She was a native of this county, and a 
devoted member of the Methodist church. Of 
their ten ciiil(hvn, seven daughters and one 
son are living, the latter being Robert Ram- 
sey, of Argusville. 

The Hon. Joseph Henry Ramsey, for man)- 
years a leading citizen of .Schoharie County, 
was burn in tlie town of .Sharon <in January 
29, 1816, and (lied in May, 1X94. He studied 
law with Jedediah Miller, and was admitted to 
practise in all the courts of the State in 1 .S40. 
.Subsequent to this, he continued for some time 
in Mr. Miller's office, and eventually suc- 
ceeded to his i^racticc; but he afterward re- 
moved his office to I.awyersville, where he 
remained until his removal to Albany in 1863. 
In 185s he rejiresented the Northern Assembly 
Di.strict, having as his colleague from the 
Southern District, Wilkinson Wilsey. This 
was the last time the county was represented 
by two members. In the fall of that year he 
was sent as a delegate to the Whig State Con- 
vention, and was made a member also of the 
Joint Convention, composed of the members of 
the Whig Convention and a .State convention 
of Free .Soil Democrats, which foinied the Re- 
publican party in this State. This was fol- 
lowed by his election to the State Senate the 
same year, as a Republican from the .Seven- 
teenth Senatorial District, which comprised 
Schoharie and Delaware Counties. In 1866 
he was nominated as a candidate for Congress, 
but failed of election. In 1S71, 1872, and 



1873 he was a delegate from Albany to the 
Republican State Convention, and also a mem- 
ber of the Republican State Committee. He 
took an active part against Judge Barnard, who 
made the order in favor of Gould and Tisk, 
and secured his impeachment by the Senate, 
and the pas.sage of a decree forbidding the 
judge to hold further office under the civil 
government. 

Joseph H. Ramsey was a well-known rail- 
road man, having been officiall\- connected 
with a nuniher of important roads. Trior to 
1858 he was active in securing subscription 
for the building of the Albany & Susque- 
hanna Raili'oad, and showed himself so efficient 
that in 185S he was chosen director and vice- 
president of the company. This company was 
organized in 1852; stock had been subscribed 
along the line and at Albany to the amount of 
a million dollars; and the city of Albany had 
been authorized to loan the company, on cer- 
tain conditions, another million dollars of its 
bonds. Work had already begun at iliffeient 
]ioints in Albaii)', Schoharie, Otsego, and 
Broome Counties, but an unexpected revulsion 
occurred in railroad affairs, which rendered it 
difficult to secure further funds. This created 
an uneasy feeling among the stockholders, and 
they were glad to accept a jiroposal m:u\c by 
the Delaware & Hudson Canal Comjiany, by 
which the Canal C^ompany assumed the pay- 
ment of the princi]ial and interest of the 
bonded debt of the road, and the original 
stockholders were to receive semi-annual divi- 
dends of seven i)er cent, per annum. As this 
was a virtual sale of the road and its franchises 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



353 



to the Canal Company, Mr. Ramsey and others 
of the directors were opposed to it. They 
would have preferred to keep it independent of 
any coal or other company, to have liberal 
rates for transportation in order to have con- 
tracted upon the line the largest amount of 
business possible, and to have the original 
stockholders reap the full benefits accruing. 
As few roads in the State have been better 
paying property, it is seen to-day that his 
judgment was correct. After the execution of 
the lease, Mr. Coe F. Young, the general 
manager of the Canal Comisany, was elected 
president of the road in place of Mr. Ramsey. 
The latter was also president of the New York 
& Albany Railroad Company, and, subsequent 
to the death of the Hon. Erastus Corning, 
president of the Albany Iron Manufacturing- 
Company. The furnances of the last-named 
company in Albany were built during his in- 
cumbency. Mr. Joseph H. Ramsey was also 
president of the Howe's Cave Cement Com- 
pany. His wife, who was born in Sharon and 
died in 1892, at the age of seventy-si.x, was 
one of seven children born to Daniel Boyce, 
farmer and miller of Shirley, and the grand- 
daughter on her mother's side of Colonel Rice 
of Revolutionary fame. Of Mrs. Ramsey's 
seven children, three are living, namely : Har- 
riet, who is the wife of the Rev. Pascal nar- 
rower, pastor of the Episcopal church at West 
New Brighton, Long Island; Frances, who 
married Dr. H. A. Crary ; and Charles H. 
Ramsey. 

Charles H. Ramsey fitted for college at 
VVilliamstown, Mass. He was graduated at 



Cornell University in 1874, and from the Al- 
bany Law School in 1875, and the following 
year was admitted to the bar. Shortly after 
he came to Howe's Cave as secretary of the 
company, which had then just started. Upon 
the death of his father he was made president. 
He has watched the growth of the plant, and 
has been closely identified with its develop- 
ment. It is now one of the leading industries 
of the county, and when running full time 
employs one hundred and fifty men. Large 
quantities of lime, cement, and plaster are 
manufactured ; also building stone. 

Mr. Ramsey was married in May, 1879, to 
Annie E. Stevens, who was born in Sloanes- 
ville, daughter of Mark W. and Lucy (Phelps) 
Stevens. Her father, who died at the age of 
sixty-eight, was the president of Schoharie 
County Bank, and a very prominent man in 
his section. Her mother dietl when Mrs. 
Ramsey was twelve years old. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ramsey have four children — Margaret, Joseph 
H., Mark W., and Charles H. 

Mr. Ramsey is a man of very varied busi- 
ness interests. He is director in the Scho- 
harie and Otsego Insurance Company, of 
Cobleskill; president of the New York & 
Canadian Pacific Railroad, which runs from 
Ogdensburg to New York ; trustee of the 
Cobleskill Cemetery, and member of the 
Schoharie County Historical Society. He is 
an attendant of the Reformed church, while 
his wife is a member of the Presbyterian 
church. P'raternally, he is a member of the 
Masonic Lodge of Cobleskill, and of John L. 
Lewis Chapter; also of the Kappa Alpha, 



35-4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



which is the oldest college society in exist- 
ence. As might be expected, his political 
principles arc Republican. 



J@ 



R. A. W. CLARK, a skilful dental 
^ m practitioner and graduate optician, 
of Jefferson, Schoharie County, the 
founder and for some years editor and pub- 
lisher of the Ji-ffersoiiicDi, now known as the 
Jefferson Courier, was born in Blenheim, 
N. Y. , August 20, 1843, son of John A. and 
Catherine (Van der Vort) Clark. 

His paternal grandfather, Randall Clark, 
came to this country from Rhode Island and 
settled in Blenheim, where he became quite 
an extensive farmer and land-owner. Randall 
Clark married Phoebe Dorcas Tucker, and his 
children were: Benjamin, Eliza, Alfred, John 
A., Stephen, Lucinda, Charles, Mary J., Will- 
iam, and Hilmer. Of these the only survivor 
is Eliza, who is residing in Rhode Island. 
Hilmer died while still young, and the other 
sons all engaged in farming. 

John A. Clark, Dr. Clark's father, came to 
this county when a boy, and was reared at the 
homestead which he occupied in part until his 
death. He was prosperous as a general 
farmer, and at one time owned al)out three 
luindred and fifty acres of land. Politically, 
he was in his later years a Republican. He 
attended the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
was an earnest advocate of temperance. He 
lived to be sixty-six years old, and his wife 
survived him ten years. They were the par- 
ents of nine children, namely: A. \V. Clark, 



the subject of this sketch; Alzada, wife of 
C. B. Atwood, a lawyer of Watertown, Conn. ; 
Lindon, a resident of Blenheim; Le Grantl 
and La Grange, twins, both of whom live at 
the homestead; Fremont, who resides in 
Delhi, N. Y. ; John J., also a resident of that 
town; Ida, who married VV. L. Cranch, and 
resides at Thompson, Conn. ; and Ida Ursula, 
who died when about six years old. 

A. W. Clark pursued his elementary studies 
in the common schools of Blenheim, and ad- 
vanced in learning by attending the Stamford 
Seminary. After leaving school he went to 
Auburn, N.Y., with a view of engaging in 
business, but at the solicitation of Dr. A. A. 
Wood, who was then practising in Jefferson, 
he began the study of medicine in that doc- 
tor's office, and continued it for eighteen 
months. P'ailing health caused him to relin- 
quish his studies, and while resting he deter- 
mined to abandon medicine for dentistry. He 
accordingly became a student in the office of 
Dr. H. S. Wood, of Stamford, with whom he 
made rapid progress, and in 1866 he began 
the practice of his profession in Jefferson, 
where he has since resided. An experience 
of over thirty years has given opportunities 
for acquiring a varied knowledge of dentistry, 
and his business is both large and profitable. 
He has availed himself of all modern improve- 
ments in the way of appliances. He is a 
graduate of the National College of Electro- 
therapeutics, Lima, Ohio, which college con- 
ferred upon him the degree of Master of 
Electro-theraiieutics (M.E.). He deals in 
dentists' sup|)lies, and has travelled consider- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3SS 



ably in the interests of this branch of his 
business. 

In 1 87 1 Dr. Clark purchased a small job 
printing-office for the purpose of devoting his 
leisure moments to some useful employment, 
and engaged in the printing of small hand- 
bills, letter-heads, etc. He was shortly after- 
ward requested by his fellow-townsmen to es- 
tablish a newspaper, which he agreed to do 
provided a sufficient sum was raised to pur- 
chase a press. Although but half the neces- 
sary amount was subscribed, he determined to 
seethe scheme through; and, making up the 
deficiency from his own pocket, he bought the 
desired machinery. Without knowledge or 
experience, he entered upon his new enter- 
prise, to which he gave every moment of 
time that could possibly be spared from 
his professional duties; and as a result of 
his indefatigable labors the initial number of 
the Jeffersoiiiaii, the first newspaper ever 
issued in Jefferson, was delivered to the 
people on March 6, 1S72. The paper was a 
success from the start, and its subsequent en- 
largement was made necessary to meet the de- 
mands of local advertisers. For about nine 
years its founder continued to edit and pub- 
lish the Jcjfcrsouian, which, under his man- 
agement, performed its mission in an able 
manner. He contributed much valuable mat- 
ter in connection with the publication of the 
Roscoe History of Schoharie County, and has 
since written for publication in the Jefferson 
Courier considerable historic matter, col- 
lected as far back as 1730, pertaining to the 
history of Schoharie County and the border 



wars of New York, giving a detailed narrative 
of many tragic scenes enacted on the frontiers 
of New York. He is now engaged in collect- 
ing dates and writing the history of the Clark 
family. 

Dr. Clark married Sarah A. Phincle, 
daughter of William and Anna (Toles) 
Phincle. They have had two children : Sarah, 
who died in infancy; and La Mancha, who 
was graduated at the Pennsylvania College of 
Dental Surgery at Philadelphia in 1898, that 
college conferring upon him the degree of 
Doctor of Dental Surgery. He stood high in 
his class of one hundred and eight, of which 
he was the youngest. He married Florence 
Lilian Lee, of Glen Castle, N.Y., on Febru- 
ary 8, 1899. He is a fine operator, gold fil- 
lings and crown and bridge work being his 
specialty. The young Doctor is now asso- 
ciated with his father in a large and successful 
practice. 

As a progressive, public-spirited citizen the 
Doctor takes an active interest in public im- 
provements, and is a stockholder in the water- 
works. He belongs to the Masonic order and 
other organizations, and frequently attends 
the meetings of the State Dental Society. 
The family are all members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 




ILLARD LARKIN, a practical and 
progressive farmer of Schoharie, 
N. Y. , was born at Central Bridge, Schoharie 
County, October 3, i860, son of John W. and 
Nancy M. (Enders) Larkin. His paternal 



3S6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



grandfather, Daniel Larkin, a native of Rhode 
Island, was one of the jMoneer settlers of 
Central Bridge, where he settled in early life, 
and prior to his death, at the age of seventy 
years, had redeemed a good farm from the 
forest. He was a strong Re|niblican in poli- 
tics, very influential in ]iuhlic affairs, and 
served several years as County Sheriff, being 
the only Republican in the county ever elected 
to that office. His second wife, Nancy Boyd, 
bori' him three children, one of whom was 
Ji)lin W'., the father above named. Both 
Daniel Larkin and his wife Nancy were mem- 
bers of the Reformed church, in which he held 
most of the offices. 

John W. Larkin completed his education at 
the CharlotteviUe Academy, and subsequently 
assisted in the care of the old homestead, 
which came into his possession after the death 
of his parents. He was a very energetic and 
thrifty farmer, successful in his unilertakings, 
and he added to the improvements of the es- 
tate the hue set of buildings now standing. 
He died in the ])rime of life, at the age of 
fifty-six years. An unswerving Republican in 
politics, he served as Supervisor during four 
terms of one year each, at one time being 
chairman of the boanl, the only Republican 
in the county to hold a similar office. I'or 
several years he was one of the trustees of the 
Lutheran church, to whicli he and his wife be- 
longed, and he was also a valued worker in 
the Sunday-school. He married Nancy M. 
Enders, daughter of Peter I. Enders, an ex- 
tensive farmer and land-owner of Central 
IJridtre. Of the six children l)orn of their 



union four are now living, as follows: Will- 
ard, the subject of this sketch; Daniel; Mary 
K., wife of Frederick R. Earquher; and 
Delia B., wife of Robert -S. Arcularius, of 
Brooklyn, N.Y. The mother died at the age 
of forty-six years. 

Willard Larkin received his education in 
the common schools and at the Schoharie and 
the Claverack Academies. Returning to the 
parental home, he assisted in the farm work 
for several years, and hel|Ted to erect the pres- 
ent farm buildings. When ready to establish 
a home of his own, he bought his present farm 
of one hundred and five or more acres, which 
by judicious toil and superior management he 
has made one of the most valuable and attrac- 
tive estates in this section of the county. A 
few years ago he rebuilt the house, barn, and 
out-buildings, which are commodious and well 
equipped. Since the death of his mother I\lr. 
Larkin has managed the homestead property 
in connection with his own farm, having now 
the charge of two hundred and twenty-five 
acres of land, which he devotes to general 
farming, stock-raising, and dairying. In pol- 
itics he is a strong Republican, and in 1896 
was elected Commissioner of Highways for a 
term of two years. 

On November 29, iS(Si, Mr. Larkin mar- 
ried Ruth H. Hoag, who was born in Sloans- 
ville, Schoharie County, daughter of John I. 
and Mary (Carr) Hoag. Her grandfather, 
David Hoag, was one of the earliest pioneers 
of that village, where he was long engaged in 
clearing and cultivating the land. He at- 
tained the age of eighty-nine years. John I. 




CI.AKENCIC E. lil.ooIXUJOl). 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



359 



Hoag carried on farming on the old home 
farm until his death, March 20, 1898. His 
wife, Mary, was born in Carlisle, and was one 
of the fourteen children of John and Eliza 
(Sweetman) Carr, seven of whom are still liv- 
ing. Ten children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Hoag. The two now living are: Mrs. 
Larkin; and her brother, George W. Hoag, a 
merchant in Sloansville. Their mother died 
at the age of fifty-six years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Larkin's only child, John H., 
died wlien eleven years old. Mr. Larkin and 
his wife are prominent members of the 
Lutheran church at Central Bridge, of which 
he is treasurer, and both are teachers in the 
Sunday-school, in which Mr. Larkin has been 
superintendent for six years. Mrs. Larkin is 
president of the Home and Foreign Mission- 
ary Society of Hartwick Synod; and Mr. 
Larkin has been president of the County 
Union of the Christian Endeavor Society for 
five years, attending four meetings each year 
in different parts of the county. In 1895 he 
went as a delegate to the convention in 
Cleveland. Mrs. Larkin is a member of the 
local VV. C. T. U. 




iL.'\RENCE E. BLOODGOOD, of the 
Ji firm of Bloodgood & Tallmadge, Cats- 
kill's well-known attorneys, was 
born in Jewett on February 3, 1849, •'^"''' "^f 
Jason and Lucinda (Coe) Bloodgood. His 
father, who is now, at the age of eighty-four, 
living retired in the village of Hensonville, 
is tlie grandson of William Bloodgood, one of 



tlie pioneer settlers of Conesville, Schoharie 
County, coming to that place from New Jer- 
sey and originally from Long Island. 

William Bloodgood fought for American in- 
dependence in the Revolutionary War. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Mary Dingle, 
was from New England. She died in 1833, 
surviving her husband si.xteen years, his death 
having occurred in 1817. Their son, Lewis, 
the ne.Nt in line of descent, was born in Sclio- 
harie County, and spent his life there in the 
town of Conesville, engaged in farming. He 
married Catherine Califf. He died about 
1 82 1, when his son Jason was a lad of si.x 
years. 

Jason Bloodgood began his working life 
when very young. He was engaged for a 
number of years at farming and lumbering in 
his native town, and then he removed to a farm 
in Jewett, where he remained until 1887. 
Since that time he has resided in Hensonville. 
He is a Democrat in politics. His wife, Mrs. 
Lucinda C. Bloodgood, died in 1893. She 
was born in Jewett on October i, 1809, being 
the daughter of Justus and Ruth (Bailey) Coe 
and one of a family of six children. Her 
father was born in Goshen, Conn., and came to 
Jewett in the early days of its settlement, find- 
ing his way thither by means of marked trees. 
There he spent the remainder of his days, 
making his home at first in a tiny log cabin 
and having but the barest necessities of life. 
He was a Deacon in the Presbyterian church, 
which he helped to build, and one of its active 
supporters throughout his life. He died at 
the age of eighty-four, and his wife died at the 



360 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



age of sixty-five. None of their seven chil- 
dren are living. 

Ja.son and Lucinda C. liloodgood were the 
parents of seven children, of whom six arc liv- 
ing. These are as follows: Levi; Cyrus E. ; 
Clarence E. ; Tremain S., of Jewett ; Mary, 
who is the wife of IVIr. Van Valkenberg, of 
Catskill; and Isaac L. All the men of this 
family are prominent citizens in the towns 
where they reside. Three of the brothers ha\'e 
been Town Supervisors. Levi and Isaac are 
in partnership, and conduct the large general 
merchandise business at Hensonville. Levi 
and his brother Cyrus E. bought the business 
in 1868 of Messrs. Brown & Loughran, and 
were in i)artnership for seventeen years, when 
Cyrus sold his interest to the youngest 
brother. Levi Bloodgood married Kate Bed- 
ford, of Delaware County, and has two daugh- 
ters : Lena, who was educated at Stamford 
Seminary, and is now a teacher of vocal and 
instrumental music; and Lettie, who is in 
school. He is one of the leading Democrats 
of his county, was Town Supervisor in 1890 
and 1 89 1, has been chairman of the Town 
Committee and many times a delegate to both 
town and county conventions. He is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist church and prominent in 
Sunday-school work. Cyrus E. Bloodgood is 
at the present time Clerk of Greene County. 
He was chairman of the Board of Supervisors 
of the county in 1882. Tremain is a farmer. 
For two years he represented his town, Jewett, 
in the Greene County Board of Supervisors. 

Clarence E. Bloodgood in his early years at- 
tended the common schools, and subsequently 



a school at Jewett Heights. He then taught 
two terms in Jewett, and in 1S69 entered 
Stamford Seminary. There he continued his 
studies until July, 1871, with the exception of 
one winter, during which he was teaching. In 
July, 1 87 1, he took the examinations for Yale, 
passing through New York on the twelfth of 
the month, while the Orangemen's riot was in 
progress. In the fall of that year he entered 
the Freshman class, and in 1875 was graduated 
in the classical department, receiving honors. 
Among his classmates were the following- 
named men, who have since been distinguished 
in national life: John Patton, United States 
Senator from Michigan; Albert S. Jenks, re- 
cently elected Judge of the Supreme Court of 
the Second District of New York State; John 
S. Seymour, formerly of Connecticut, now of 
New York City, who was Commissioner of Pat- 
ents under Cleveland's last administration; 
Edward S. Jones, Fir.st Assistant Postmaster- 
General under the same administration; lul- 
ward S. Atwater, of Poughkeepsie, candidate 
for Comptroller on the Democratic ticket in 
1898; and Edward C. .Smith, at present Gov- 
ernor of Vermont. 

In the fall of iS'75 Mr. Bloodgood was 
elected School Commissioner of the First Dis- 
trict of Greene County ; and this position he 
held for nine years. In 1879 he began the 
study of law in the office of J. B. Olney, of 
Catskill, and in January, 1885, was admitted 
to the bar. He immediately began the prac- 
tice of law, and twelve years later formed the 
partnership with Mr. Tallmadge. The firm 
has one of the largest law libraries in the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



361 



county, and its practice is very extensive. 
Both partners have a wide circle of acquaint- 
ance throughout this section of the State, and 
command universal confidence. 

In 1 89 1 and 1S92 Mr. Bloodgood served as 
State Senator from the Fourteenth District, 
which then included Greene, Ulster, and 
Schoharie Counties. He was a memher of the 
Judiciary Committee, of the Committee on 
Finance, and of the Committee on Canals, 
Roads, Bridges, and Poor Laws, and was 
chairman of the last two. He introduced some 
hills of importance, among others one that had 
been many times before presented and as often 
failed to pass. Against the opposition of 
members from large cities he secured the 
passage of the law, enlarging the scope of in- 
vestments for savings-banks. Mr. Bloodgood 
believes in "sound money." He has been 
continuously active in all duties of good 
citizenship since he graduated from college. 
In 1S95 he was chairman of the Democratic 
County Committee. He is at the present time 
a member of the State Committee for the 
Twenty-fifth Senatorial District. He has 
been a member of the State Bar Association 
since 1S92. In 1S97 he was elected vice- 
president of the association for the Third Judi- 
cial District of the State of New York, and 
last January was re-elected to the same posi- 
tion for the current year. In i8g6 also he was 
appointed by the Secretary of the Interior spe- 
cial commissioner to investigate certain mat- 
ters connected with the Osage Indians; but, as 
the acceptance of the position would require 
him to spend an indefinite time in the Indian 



Territory, he felt obliged to decline the honor. 
Mr. Bloodgood was married in 1892 to Joseph- 
ine L. Case, of Catskill, daughter of Hiram 
Case. Mrs. Bloodgood was born in what is 
known as Potter's Hollow, Albany County. 
Mr. Bloodgood during the two years, 1895 and 
1896, was president of the Rip Van Winkle 
Club, which is the leading social club of Cats- 
kill. He is secretary and treasurer of the Com- 
mercial Mutual Fire Insurance Association of 
Catskill. 



M 



OW FONDA VROMAN, a leading 
i(^ . citizen of Middleburg and represen- 
tative of one of the oldest families 
in the county, was born in this town on a farm 
adjoining his present dwelling-place on No- 
vember 14, 1 83 1, his parents being Henry and 
Catharine (Hagadorne) Vroman. 

The first title to Schoharie lands known to 
have been recorded was obtained by his ances- 
tor, Adam Vroman, from the Indians, and has 
since been known as Vroman's land. It is 
located two miles south-west of Middleburer. 
The conveyance is dated Schenectady, August 
20, 171 1. Adam Vroman obtained a royal 
patent to these lands from King George on 
August 26, 1 7 14. On March 30, 1726, he 
obtained a new grant from the Indians. 
Twenty families of Hollanders settled here, 
and there was considerable friction between 
them and the Palatinates before friendly rela- 
tions were established. Adam Vroman was 
born in Holland in 1649, and came to this 
country with his father, Hendrick Meese Vro- 
man, in 1670, settling first in Schenectady. 



362 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



The father was killed in the massacre there in 
1690. Adam's two brothers were named Jan 
and Bartholomew. He lived in Schenectady 
diirinfj the i^reater part of his life, and is bur- 
ied there; but his death occurred in Middle- 
bur.L; in 1730, at the home of iiis son. He was 
three times married, successively to Engeltie 
Ryckman, Grietje Van .Slyck, and Grietje 
Takelse Hemstreet. His first wife and her 
infant child were killed in the massacre. 

.Adam's son Peter was born in Schenectady 
on IMay 4, 1684. He came fmrn that place, 
and settled in Middleburg, in the part now- 
called F'ulton, on the banks of the -Schoharie 
River, where he cleared a large tract of land. 
His relations with the Indians were most 
friendly. He died in 1777. His wife, 
(irietje Van Alstyne, who was born in Albany 
of Dutch parentage, was the mother of twehe 
children, seven sons and five daughters. 

Adam Vroman, second, son of the above 
named Peter, and great-grandfather of Dow F. 
Vroman, was born at P^ulton on September 21, 
1707. and died of consumption in 1754. De- 
spite his feeble health, he was a man of much 
energy, and one of the most progressive 
farmers of this region. 

Jonas Vroman, grandfather of the sLibjcct of 
this sketch, was born in Middleburg, now P'ul- 
ton, on Ai)ril i, 1735, and died on April 16, 
1804. U|ion reaching his majority, he moved 
to the farm which adjoins Dow ¥. Vroman's 
])roperty, and there built in 1792-93 the 
hou.se, the main [lart of which is .still stand- 
ing. He was a lifelong fainier. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Deliah Hager, died 



in 1S30, at the age of ninety-one. They were 
the parents of two sons. 

Of these Henry, above named, was born on 
the farm his father had settled, and there he 
continued to reside thoughout his life. Ujjon 
the death of his father he came into ]iossession 
of the propety. He was a man of considera- 
ble prominence hereabouts, and was at differ- 
ent times Lieutenant and Captain in the 
militia. Both he and his wife Catherine were 
members of the Dutch Reformed church. The 
latter was a native of Middleburg, now Ful- 
ton, and daughter of John Hagadorne. She 
died at the age of seventy-nine ; and her hus- 
banil died on March 2, 1859, at the age of 
eighty-two. Of their family of ten children, 
three are living; namely, Dow Fonda, Adam, 
and Susan, who is the wife of Lsaac Borst. 

Dow F. Vroman received good mental train- 
ing in the public schools, and resided at home 
with his parents until he was twenty years of 
age, at the end of which time he left home and 
travelled for about four years. Returning 
then to Middleburg, he purchased the farm of 
forty acres adjoining his father's estate, which 
has since been his home. In 1854 he married 
Margaret Smith, one of a family of ten chil- 
dren born to Martin Smith, a farmer of Albany 
County, New York. Of this union nine chil- 
dren have been born, namely: Eugene, who 
resides in Middleburg; Charles, who married 
Mary Best, and is engaged in business here; 
Henry, who is a farmer in California; Kate, 
who resides with her ])arents ; Dow, a lawyer 
of Tonawanda, Niagara County, a graduate of 
Union College antl Albany Law School; 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



363 



Smith, an engineer in California; Margaret, 
who resides with lier parents; Guy, who is 
a civil engineer, a graduate of Union College, 
Schenectady, in the class of 1898'; and Roy, 
who is attending the high school. Mr. Vro- 
man is a man of superior intelligence, and pos- 
sesses a wide and thorough knowledge of men 
and affairs. He has made a careful study of 
the family history, and is an authority on all 
points connected with it. In politics he is a 
Democrat ; but, although he is one of the lead- 
ing men in his party, he has never cared to 
hold public office. In 1890, iSgi, and 1892 
he served as Supervisor of Middleburg. His 
wife and two daughters are members of the Re- 
formed church. 



T^HAUNCEY W. HINMAN, attorney- 
l J[ at-law and Justice of the Peace, resid- 

^ ^ ing at Schoharie, N. Y. , was born 

in Middleburg on June 4, 1835, son of John 
S. and Margaret (Pausley) Hinman. His 
grandfather, Justus Hinman, by occupation a 
mechanic, was a native of the State of Con- 
necticut. He removed to Kinderhook, Co- 
lumbia County, in this State, among the early 
settlers, and he lived there during the re- 
mainder of his life. He died at the age of 
eighty-one. His wife, who was before her 
marriage Alice Spencer, was also born in 
Connecticut. She lived to be eighty years of 
age, and reared a family of eight children. 
Of these only one son, Franklin by name, is 
living. Both parents were members of the 
Baptist church. 



John S. Hinman was born in Kinderhook, 
and was brought up in that town. When a 
mere boy he left home, and for some years 
subsequently he Journeyed from one place to 
another, until at length he settled in Middle- 
burg and carried on wagon-making, later en- 
gaging in the practice of law. He became an 
attorney of some note, and continued practice 
for a quarter of a century. He was also Jus- 
tice of the Peace for many years. In politics 
he was a Democrat. His death occurred at 
the age of fifty-si.\. His first wife, Margaret, 
the mother of Chauncey W. Hinman, was the 
daughter of Frederick and Christiana Pausley, 
the father a lifelong farmer and during his 
last years a resident of Middleburg. She was 
bcrn in Schoharie, and died at the age of 
thirty-three. Of the si.\ children born to 
her, four are living, the record being as 
follows: Chauncey; Charles; Helen, who is 
the widow of William Bouck; and Mary 
Jane, who is the wife of Jacob L. Zimmer, of 
Wright. Mrs. Margaret Hinman was a de- 
voted member of the Methodist church. The 
second wife was a sister of the first, and she 
was the mother of John, Justice, Albert, 
Alice, and Catharine, of whom John and Jus- 
tice are living. She died at the age of fifty- 
eight. 

Chauncey W. Hinman attended the public 
schools until sixteen years of age, when he 
left home and went to work in Franklinton 
and Livingstonville, where he remained for 
a short time. He subsequently worked in 
Utica and elsewhere in Oneida County, in Al- 
bany, and in Ohio, as a clerk, and then re- 



3^4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



turned to Middleburg, where he learned the 
harness-maker's trade, and subsequently car- 
ried on business until 1862, when he enlisted 
in Company D of the One Hundred and 
Thirty-fourth Regiment as a private. He was 
in active service, and through successive pro- 
motions rose to the rank of Second Lieuten- 
ant and finally to that of First Lieutenant. 
He was at Chancellorsville and at Gettys- 
burg, and at Tilton, in the fall of 1864, was 
taken prisoner by the rebel forces. He was 
carried to Andersonville, and there for six 
months endured horrors worse than those of 
open warfare. From being a solid, well-built 
man weighing one hundred anil sixty-eight 
pounds, he became reduced to a mere skele- 
ton, and escaped death only by the fortunate 
circumstance of his release. He saw thou- 
sands of men breathe their last in the prison, 
victims of starvation and disease. The daily 
rations, whicli were never varied, were one- 
half pint of corn meal, the same quantity of 
beans, and one spoonful of molasses or two 
ounces of meat. To this was added, once in 
three days, a small tahlespoonful of salt. 
Thirty men of Mr. Hinman's company shared 
the horrors of prison life with him. 

With peace came his release and subsequent 
discharge from the army. Returning then to 
Middleburg, Mr. Hinman began the business 
of harness-making, but in 1867 he came to 
Schoharie and began the study of law. Two 
years later he was admitted to the bar, and at 
once formed a partnership with his brother, 
which continued until 1871. Since that time 
Mr. Hinman has been alone. He is the sec- 



ond oldest lawyer in practice in the town. 
I'or eight years he has been a Justice of the 
Peace and for many years a trustee of the 
Union School. 

Mr. Hinman was married in 1872 to Alice 
ver Plank, who was born in Wright, a daugh- 
ter of Alanson ver Plank and one of a family 
group of five children. Of this union six 
children were born^ as follows: Nellie M., 
Douglas A., Herbert W., Mabel, Alice, and 
C. Ford. Nellie M. , who is a graduate of 
Vassar College, is the assistant principal of 
the Union School. Douglas is a graduate of 
the Albany Law School and a practising 
lawyer in Berne, Albany County. Herbert 
W. is in business with a florist in Saratoga 
Springs. Mabel, who was educated at the 
Young Ladies' Seminary at Binghamton, is 
now in Europe. Alice is a student in the 
Union School, Schoharie. C. Ford Hinman 
is studying law in his father's office. 

Mr. Hinman is an Odd Fellow of To-wos- 
scholer Lodge, No. 546. He is a member 
and trustee of the Stock Growers' Associa- 
tion. He has a general law practice, and also 
acts as pension attorney. In politics he is a 
Democrat. Mr. Hinman and his family are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and he is a trustee of the society. Both he 
and his wife have been teachers in the Sun- 
day-school. 



Y^A GRAND I. TREADWELL, a pro- 

IJ grcssive farmer and prominent citizen 

^"^ ^ of Jefferson, Schoharie County, 

N.Y., was born in Harpersfield, 13elavvare 




JAMES T. WVATl'. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



367 



County, this State, October 7, 1845, son of 
James T. and Eliza A. (Buckingham) Tread- 
well. 

His father, James T. Treadwell, was a na- 
tive of Harpersfield, N.Y., born August 6, 
181 2. He was one of the leading men of his 
town, where he held the office of Supervisor. 
He was also a Colonel in the militia. A 
stanch Republican in politics, he was a great 
admirer of Lincoln, Grant, Seward, and other 
great men of his party who liad jirovcd their 
fitness for high place by the magnitude of 
their services to their country. In religion 
he was a Methodist and a prominent ofificer of 
that church. His wife, Eliza, who was born 
in Jefferson, Schoharie County, July 14, 
181 1, was a daughter of Isaac and Sally Buck- 
ingham, her father being a prosperous farmer. 
She died in her native town, February 27, 
1896, having survived her husband nearly 
twenty-five years, he having passed away 
April 26, 1871. Their children were: Orrin, 
Sarah, Cassius, La Grand, and Addie. 

La Grand I. Treadwell received a good dis- 
trict-school education. He began early to ac- 
quire a practical knowledge of agriculture, 
and since his youth has been engaged in farm- 
ing. His present farm of one hundred and 
ten acres is well located, and, kept by him in 
a high state of cultivation, it produces satis- 
factory financial results. Mr. Treadwell is a 
man of good business capacity, progressive in 
his methods, an untiring worker, and thor- 
oughly wide-awake to every opportunity for 
the improvement t>f liis property. That he 
stands high among his fellow-townsmen may 



be inferred from the fact that he has been 
called upon to serve them as Commissioner of 
Highways and as Supervisor. He attends the 
Methodist church. He belongs to the Ma- 
sonic order, being a member of Lodge No. 
554, F. & A. M., of Jefferson. 

He married September 22, 1885, Miss Jean- 
ette C. Grant, a native of Stamford, Delaware 
County, N.Y., and a daughter of Alfred B. 
and Maria A. (Davenport) Grant. Mr. and 
Mrs. Treadwell are the parents of one child, 
J. Logan Treadwell, who was born August 12, 
1887. 

's^JYAMES T. WYATT, ex-Supervisor of 
Glenville and a veteran of the Civil 
War, was born in Halifax, N. S., Octo- 
ber 22, 1834, son of John F. and Charlotte 
(Stewart) Wyatt. His father was a native of 
New Jersey, and his mother of Nova Scotia. 

John Wyatt, his grandfather, who was born 
in Charleston, S. C, served in the Revolution- 
ary War, and for some years was a planter in 
his native State. Coming Nortii, John Wyatt 
resided in New York State for a time, but his 
last days were spent in Nova Scotia. The 
tamily is of iMiglish origin. Probably its first 
representative in this country was Sir I-'rancis 
Wyatt, one of the early Colonial governors of 
Virginia, the first term of his wise and pacific 
administration beginning in October, 1621. 

John I". Wyatt, the father of the subject of 
this sketch, was a carjienter, and followed liis 
trade during his active years. Moving from 
Nova .Scotia to New York State, he resided in 
Albany until going to Cattaraugus Comity; 



368 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and he died in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, 
at the age of eighty-three years. In politics 
he was a Republican. His wife, Charlotte, 
was the mother of seven chilthen, four of whom 
are living, namel)' : John A. and James T. , 
both residents of (llcnville; ICleanor, wife of 
,M. (1. Maitvii, of Jamestown; and William 
II. W'yatt, of Akron, ()hio. The others were : 
liliza C, Harriet, and .Xdilaidc. Mrs. Char- 
lotte S. Wyatt died in Akron, Ohio, at the age 
of .seven ty-si.\ years. In religious faith the 
]iarents were Episcopalians. 

James T. Wyatt was reared in Albany and 
educated in the schools of that city. When a 
young man he entered the grocery business as 
a clerk, and remained in that emplo\ment for 
four years. In October, 1861, he enlisted as 
a pri\ate in an independent organization known 
as the Havelock Battery, which was raised in 
Albany, and became attached to the Army of 
the Potomac. He participated in some of the 
most stubbornly contested engagements of the 
Civil War, including the battle of Chancellors- 
\ille, where he was wounded, and rose to the 
rank i}f l''irst Lieutenant, being discharged as 
such, Januarv 24, 1S65. The .State of New 
\'ork gave him the rank ol Hrexet Major. Re- 
turning to Albany, he in 1866 became travel- 
ling salesman for Biu'ton & Co., dealers in 
mouldings, jjicture frames, and similar wares, 
and remained with that concern for eight years. 
In 1877 lie bought his jiresent farm in Glen- 
ville, containing one hunilred and forty-two 
acres of desirable land situated in the beautiful 
and fertile Mohawk \alU-y, one of the finest 
agricultural regions in the State. lie displays 



unusual practical ability and good judgment in 
managing his jiroperty, which yields a good 
income, the energy of its owner being visible 
on every hand. 

In |une, 1867, Mr. W\'att was united in 
marriage with Aiuia M. Rectoi', who was born 
in Glenvillc, May 25, 1835, daughter of Will- 
iam Rector and a representative of an old fam- 
ily of this town. 

Politically, Mi'. \\'yatt is a Republican. 
He served with ability as Supervisor during 
the years 1882, 1883, 1884, and 1886. He is 
a comrade of Horsfall Post, No. 90, (i. A. R., 
of Schenectady. Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt have 
no children. They attend the Episcojjal 
church. 




RNEST E. BILLINGS, M.D., the lead- 
ing physician of Gilboa, Schoharie 
County, N. Y., is a native of Broome, this 
State. He was born on September 29, 1859, 
to Peter L. and Amelia (Brayman) Billings. 
His great-grandfather Billings came to this 
place from Connecticut. He was of luiglish 
ancestry. 

The Doctor's paternal grandfather, JcjIui 
Billings, lived and died in this count)', and 
was a lifelong farmer. His children were as 
follows: Thaddeus; Peter; Charles; William; 
Emma, who is the wife of Lewis Brazee; 
Ellen, who is the widow of Emerson Camp- 
bell; and Luther, who died at the age of 
twenty-one years. Charles and William Bill- 
ings both reside in this county. 

Peter Billings during the greater part of his 
active life was engaged in farming at Broome, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



369 



but he lived for a time in Greene County. 
Politically, he was a stanch Republican. For 
a number of years he was Poormaster. He 
was a member of the oUl school Baptist 
church and one of its most zealous upholders. 
His four children were: Ernest E. and Erwin 
B., twins; Anna, who married Albert Palmer; 
and Burton, who died at the age of twenty- 
three years. 

Ernest E. Billings during his boyhood at- 
tended school at Broome and subsequently at 
Rensselaerville Academy. In his early years 
he had access to a well-selected library, wliich 
probably in a measure determined the course 
of his later life. This library consisted 
largely of works of science and history. It 
had been accumulated by his maternal grand- 
father, Benjamin Brayman, who resided in 
Broome. Mr. Brayman was a genuine lover 
of books. Not a volume on his shelves but 
was one of value and standing, and not one 
that he had not read and digested. His mem- 
ory for facts was wonderful, and no one here- 
abouts could equal him in extent of knowl- 
edge. He was extremely logical, and could 
floor any one in an argument. Withal, he was 
a successful man of affairs. At that time, 
when gootl books, or indeed books of any sort, 
were difficult to get, his library unquestion- 
ably exerted a great influence in moulding the 
future of his grandson. 

After leaving school Ernest E. Billings 
taught for four or five terms, as also his twin 
brother, who subsequently obtained a State 
certificate. P'rom boyhood it had been his 
ambition to be a physician, and accordingly, 



as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he 
began the study of medicine with his uncle, 
Dr. E. Brayman, of Livingstonville. After 
a year spent there he entered the medical de- 
partment of the University of the City of New 
York in 1881, and in 1884 he was graduated 
at that institution with the coveted degree of 
Doctor of Medicine. While there he showed 
especial proficiency in mathematics and in 
microscopy. He was one of two to receive a 
certificate in the latter study. He immedi- 
ately began the practice of his profession in 
Conesville, where he remained until October 
5, 1887. Since that time he has been settled 
in Gilboa. The Doctor still has more or less 
practice in Conesville, and, in fact, in the 
four counties of Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, 
and Albany. His calmness at all times and 
his sympathy in the sick-room fortify him for 
attendance on the most serious or critical 
cases, and his warm heart and generous ex- 
pression of feeling win for him the lasting 
gratitude of his patients and their friends. 
He has made a special study of the diseases of 
women and children. 

Politically, the Doctor is a Republican. 
He was Town Clerk in Broome in 1883, and 
is at the present time Health Officer of Gil- 
boa. Since iSgo he has been a member of 
the Dutch Reformed church. P^ir two years 
he was a Deacon in the church, and for the 
last three years has been Elder. He is a 
Mason of Gilboa Lodge, No. 630, and at the 
present time secretary of the lodge. Profes- 
sionally, he is a member of the Schoharie 
County Medical Society. He is one of the 



37° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



stockholders in the weekly paper jniblished at 
Gilboa. 

Dr. Joinings married Carrie Richtmyer, 
daughter of I'cter Richtmyer and descendant 
of one of the old and honored families of this 
vicinity. They have one child, Ernestine. 




ACA''/ ll.I-IAM W. CHAPMAN, a prac- 
tical and pmspi.-rous agriculturist of 
JMiUcn, Schoharie County, was born on the 
farm where he now resides, known as the 
Chajiman homestead, November 14, 1846, a 
son of Jacob Chapman. His great-grand- 
father Chapman was one of the very early set- 
tlers of Columbia County, New York, where 
he owned an extensive tract of land and 
about sixty slaves. 

William Chapman, the grandfather of Will- 
iam W., was born and educated in Columbia 
County, but afterward became a pioneer of 
Albany County, whither he removed with his 
family at an early day. He also was a slave- 
holder, and before his death, which occurred 
when he was but forty-seven years old, he had 
cleared a large farm, and had come to hold an 
important position among the influential men 
of the town of Rensselaerville, iti which he 
had settled. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Eva .Solpaugh, dietl at the age of seventy- 
five years, after rearing a number of children. 
In religion they were both of the Hajitist per- 
suasion. 

Jacob Cha])maii was born in Rensselaer- 
ville, Albany County, where he resided until 
twenty-seven years old. Coming then to 



Schoharie County, he purchased one hundred 
acres of woodland, on which almost the only 
improvement visible was a small log house 
that occupied the site of the present substan- 
tial dwelling on the Chapman homestead, the 
house subsequently erected by him. He 
cleared a large part of the land he first pur- 
chased, and, having bought another lot of forty 
acres, carried on general farming and stock- 
raising with great success until his death, at 
the venerable age of eighty-seven years. In 
politics he was a Jacksonian Democrat, and 
served one or more terms as Overseer of the 
Poor. His wife, Huldah Winans, was the 
daughter of Klder John Winans, for many 
years a Baptist minister at Preston Hollow, 
Albany County, where she was born anil bred. 
They had eleven children, eight of whom are 
living, as follows: Spenci.'r, a farmer residing 
near the old homestead; Nancy C, wife of 
Chauncey Shattuck; Adam M., a farmer at 
Bouck's Falls; Maria, widow of the late 
Almon Mann; Isabella, wife of Hiram P'cker- 
son; Klizaheth, widow of the late Dr. George 
Holmes; James P., former .Supervisor of Mid- 
dleburg; and William W., the special subject 
of this sketch. The mother also attained a 
good old age, passing away at the age of four- 
score and four years. Both parents were 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
in which the father served long and faithfully 
as steward and class leader. Their son Peter, 
who was graduated from the Normal School, 
and afterward attended private lectures and 
the Philadelphia Meilica! College, went West 
when a young man, and, settling in Iowa, was 




liAKNARL) olIARA. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



373 



there engaged first as a teacher and later as a 
physician. He subsequently lived in Ne- 
braska, and for six years was School Commis- 
sioner in Lincoln. Returning to Schoharie 
County, he practised medicine in Richmond- 
ville for si.x years, going from there to New 
Me.xico, where he had a lucrative position in 
a government land office until his death, at the 
age of forty-nine years. 

William \V. Chapman succeeded to the 
ownership of the home farm of one iiundred 
and fort}' acres, on which he has spent his 
entire life, being known throughout the com- 
munity as one of its most skilful and thrifty 
farmers. Enei'getic and inihistrious, and well 
versed in the science of agriculture, he is 
meeting with well-merited success in his 
chosen vocation. In addition to raising the 
crops common to this region, he carries on to 
some extent dairying and the raising of 
draught horses, in which he has been some- 
wiiat interested. A firm supporter of the 
principles of the Democratic party, he takes 
an active interest in local affairs. He has 
served on both the Town and the County Com- 
mittee and in 1891, 1892, 1S93, and 1894 he 
was .Supervisor, having been elected and sub- 
sequently re-elected three consecutive years 
by a large majority. 

On November 21, 1877, Mr. Chapman mar- 
ried Emma Zeh, who was born in Middleburg, 
a daughter of Philip Zeh, a farmer. She died 
at the age of thirty-one years. .She was a de- 
voted member of the Reformed church. On 
December 29, 1886, Mr. Chapman married for 
his second wife Miss Keziah Hilts, who was 



born in Fulton, a daughter of Gideon D. and 
Elizabeth (Zeh) Hilts. Her father, a native 
of Wright, removed to Fulton when but six- 
teen years of age, and from that time until his 
decease, at the age of sixty-three years, was 
engaged as a tiller of the soil. He affiliated 
with the Democrats, and was active in public 
life, serving as School Commissioner in his 
district and as Supervisor of the town a num- 
ber of years. His wife, Elizabeth, who was 
born in Middleburg, died in Fulton in i8gi. 
I5oth were active members of the Reformed 
church. Of their eleven children five are 
still living, namely: George, who was gradu- 
ated from Claverack College, and now resides 
in New York City: Jennie, who married Mar- 
cus Zeh; Jay; Keziah, now Mrs. Cliapman ; 
and Elizabeth. Mrs. Chapman is a graduate 
of the Albany Normal School, and has had 
considerable experience as a teacher, having 
taught in her native j^lace and for two years in 
the Ulster Academy. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman 
have two children — Leo H. and Alice Irene. 




ARNARD O'HARA, proprietor of 
the O'Hara House, Lexington, 
Greene County, N.Y. , was born in 
Fishkill, Dutchess County, this State, June i, 
1816, son of Peter and Lucretia (Darbee) 
O'Hara. His father emigrated from Ireland 
in 1801, first locating in New York City and 
later in P"ishkill, where he worked by the 
month on a farm. Peter O'Hara was subse- 
quently engaged in farming in Westfield Flats, 
Sullivan County, and in Greenville village. 



374 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



His first purchase was a small ])iece of land, 
which he later sold. He finally bought a 
tract of forty acres situated on the Durham 
line, where lie resided for the rest of his active 
pei'iod. By his industry and thrift he was 
enabled to increase his jjroperty by Ihc ]iur- 
chase of adjoinint,' land, owning at the time of 
his death, which occurred at the age of eighty 
years, a farm of two hundred acres. He was a 
capable farmer, ]iossessing excellent judgment 
in all agricultural matters, which enabled him 
to make good use of his resources and oppor- 
tunities. Besides the raising and selling of 
farm produce, he distilleil apple brandy, an 
agreeable and somewhat seductive beverage, 
known to residents of the present day under 
the more familiar name of ajiple-jack. He 
was also a weaver of great renown. Beter 
O'Hara was a Democrat in imlitics, and took a 
lively interest in local public affairs, serving 
frequently as a grand juror at Catskill and 
holding minor town offices. In his religious 
belief he was a Roman Catholic and so true a 
followiM' of the prece|)ts of the church that tm 
one occasion he carried a child from l-"ishkill 
to Troy and thence to Lansingburg in order 
to have it baptized by a Catholic priest. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Lucretia Dar- 
bee, was a native of Goshen, Orange County, 
to whiiii tnwn her parents had removed from 
Goshen, Conn., settling as pioneers. Her 
father was a farmer and a cloth dresser for 
some years. Later he kept a ta\ern in West- 
field Flats. He was killed by the overturning 
of a Iliad of hay. I'eter and Lucretia (Darbee) 
O'Hara had fifteen children, of whom si.\ sons 



and seven daughters lived to have families; 
and si.\ of the daughters were school teachers 
]5revious to their marriage. The only sur- 
vivors are : Barnard, the subject of this sketch ; 
and I.e\i, who still resides ujion a ])ortion of 
the iild homestead, which, after the father's 
death, was divided into four farms. The 
mother died at the age of si.xty-four. .She at- 
tended the Methodist Episcojial church. 

Barnard O'Hara in his boyhood and \outh, 
from the time he was able to be of use, worked 
on the home farm during the farming seasons, 
and attended school winters. 

Leaving home at the age of twenty-one, he 
went to Alban)', N.V. , where he obtained em- 
ployment in a tlry and fancy goods store. His 
em])loyer failed a short time later, antl he 
made an arrangement with the assignee to 
].iecklle the stock upon the road. After driving 
through Central New York with a horse and 
wagon in the employ of others for some time, 
he invested what money he had saved in a team 
of his own; and, borrowing the sum of three 
hundred dollars of his fathei', he engaged in 
peddling for himself, soon establishing his 
credit in New York City by punctually meet- 
ing his obligations. After continuing upon 
the road some years, or until 1S45, he settled 
in Lexington, where in the following year he 
completed the building of a store, which he 
stocked with general merchandise, and carried 
it on successfully for over thirty years. For a 
long period he was also engaged in the under- 
taking business. 

.After visiting some of the Western .States 
he returned, feeling certain tliat his future 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



375 



prospects were just as promising in Lexington 
as elsewhere. The succeeding ten years were 
devoted to the management of his store and 
to the cultivation of his farm, which he pur- 
chased in 1865, and which he still owns. 

In 1880, having admitted his son as a part- 
ner, he severed his active connection vvith the 
mercantile business. The son continued in 
charge of the establishment until 18S8, since 
which time the store building has been leased 
to others. 

The O'Hara House stands upon a site for- 
merly occupied by a Baptist church. It was 
completed and opened in 1877, and is one of 
the largest hotels in Lexington, having accom- 
modations for one hundred and twenty-five 
guests. Situated at an altitude of sixteen 
hundred feet above sea level, and provided 
vvith ample facilities for comfort and recrea- 
tion, it offers special inducements as a health 
resort. 

In 1845 Mr. O'Hara was united in marriage 
with Miss Charlotte IJriggs, daughter of Da- 
rius Briggs, a well-known farmer of Lexington 
in his day. She became the mother of seven 
children; namely, Mary A., Edgar B. , 
George P., Arthur, Arrietta, Ida, and Belle. 
Mary A. is the wife of James M. Van X'alken- 
burgh, a hotel proprietor of Lexington, and has 
one son, George B. Van Valkenburgh, who is 
a college graduate. Edgar and George assist 
their father in carrying on the O'Hara House. 
Edgar also carries on a thriving business in 
the manufacture of cider. George O'Hara 
married Mary Smith, antl has two children — 
Charlotte and Edgar L. Arthur O'Hara died 



at the age of two years. Arrietta died in 1876 
at the age of twenty-one \ears. Ida married 
I'eter J. Kelley, who is now a resident of New 
York City. Belle is residing at home. Edgar 
is a graduate of Manhattan College, New York, 
and of Eastman's Business College, Pough- 
keepsie ; and George took a commercial course 
at P'olsom's Business College. The daughters 
attended "Kenwood," a Catholic school in Al- 
bany. In politics Mr. O'Hara is a Democrat. 
He served as Supervisor in i S69 and 1870, re- 
ceiving at his re-election the unanimous sup- 
port of both the Republican and Democratic 
parties. He has been Clerk of the town and of 
the school district, and has frequent 1}- served 
as a grand and petit juror. Mrs. O'Hara died 
in December, 1880, aged fifty-four years. 
The family attend the Roman Catholic 
church. 



(sTrOEL H. MEAD, M.D., Hunter's vet- 
eran physician and surgeon, residing on 
Main Street in that town, was born in 
Jewett on June 15, 1S38, his parents being- 
Stephen and Caroline (Hosford) Mead. The 
family is of English descent, and early settled 
in Columbia County, New York, among the 
pioneers of that region. 

Philip Mead, the Doctor's grandfather, was 
one of the first settlers in Jewett, coming to 
that town by a route marked with trees, and in 
company with two or three other )'oung men 
settling in the heart of the forest to make a 
home for himself. His first dwelling was a 
rude log hut, but after he had made a clearing- 
he erected a handsome frame house. The near- 



376 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



est town, Cairo, was ten miles distant, anil al 
supplies hail to be brought frnni that jilace. 
Bears and dtlier wikl animals were abundant, 
and fearlessly prowled near the little eabiii. 
After eighteen years spent in Jewett, during 
which he had cleared a large tract of land, he 
removed to Cayuga County, then JList being 
opened U]). There he remained until his 
death, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, 
Hannah, died at the age of eighty. ]5(ith were 
members of the Hajitist church. Mrs. Hannah 
Mead was born in Columbia County, of parents 
who were pioneer settlers there. .She had 
twelve children, all of whnm are now deceased. 
Ste[jhen Mead was burn in Columbia 
County, but the greater part of his life was 
spent in Jewett, where he i)urchased a farm in 
early manhooil. In national politics he was a 
Republican. He took a warm interest in local 
public affaiis, and held several minor fiffices in 
the town. His death occiu'red at the agent 
eighty-si.x. His wife was born in jewett, 
being a daughter of Joel Hosfcird, who married 
a Miss Mann. Her father was one <if three 
brothers who came from the town of W'al ling- 
ford, Conn., to settle the town of Jewett. One 
of the brothers was named Reuben. They 
were pioneers of Jewett Heights. The Mann 
famil)- was (ine o{ the first to settle on Man- 
hattan Island, coming over from Holland. 
Mrs. Caroline Hosfnrd Mead died at the age of 
sixty-seven. Hoth she and her husband were 
members of the Methodist church. One of 
their four children, a son, Alanson, is de- 
ceased. The living are: Dr. William 11., 
who is practising" in Windham (see sketch on 



another page) ; iJr. Joel II. ; and .\deline, 
who is the wife of Alanson Woodworth. 

After leaving the common schools Joel H. 
Mead studied medicine for a time with Dr. 
F. H. Holcomb, of Windham, antl then took a 
course in medicine in the Albany Medical Col- 
lege, from which he was graduated in 1863. 
He at once began ])ractice in Hunter, and in a 
short time hail as many jiatientsas he could 
care for. l^esides his general medical practice 
Dr. Mead has gi\-en considerable attention to 
surgery, and has performed some remarkable 
operations. l-'or twenty years he was the only 
physician in this and several of the adjoining 
towns. He is to-day one of the oldest ])racti- 
tioncrs in tlie count)', there being onl\' four 
physicians whose professional career antedates 
his. He is the Nestor of the medical frater- 
nity hereabouts. 

In 1866 Dr. Mead married I.ucinda Wood- 
worth, daughter of Abner and Sojihronia (Juil- 
son) Woodwoith. Her father, who was a 
farmei' and one of the earl\- settlers of Jewett, 
died at the age of seventy-eight. Her mother 
died at forty-si.x. Their si.x children were; 
Laura, who married Albert Chase, a son of 
Judge Chase of the Supreme Court; lUiel ; 
Lucius, a sketch of whom ap[5ears elsewhere in 
this hook; Lemuel, who died at the age of 
twenty; Loren, who is deceased; and Mrs. 
Mead. The Doctor and his wife luu'e been 
blessed with two childrjn — Ldith and Hertha, 
the last named of whom resiiles with her par- 
ents, lulith married R. A. Austin, a drug- 
gist of Cairo, and has one child, Joel b}- name. 
The daughters received their finisliinij- eiliica- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



377 



tion in a private school. Both are fine per- 
formers on the organ and piano. 

Tiie Doctor takes a warm interest in all [nib- 
lic matters, and gives the weight of his politi- 
cal influence to the Republican party. In 1887 
he filled the office of Supervisor. He is a 
Master Mason and member of Mount Tailor 
Lodge of Hunter. He was a promoter, ftom 
the start, of the Maplevvoocl Cemetery organi- 
zation, and has always been one of its active 
supporters. In connection with Ur. Stanley 
he is pension examiner for Greene Count}', 
holding the position under government ap- 
pointment. He is now president of the Board 
of Examiners. He has also been examiner for 
several years for various life insurance com- 
panies, among which may be named the 
Phceni.x, the New York Life, the New York 
Mutual, the Equitable, and the Washington. 
The Doctor's famil\- are members of the Meth- 
odist church. 




TAyALLACE W. CRAPSER, a well- 
'^*' known business man of the town of 
Summit, .Schoharie County, residing at Char- 
lotteville, was laorn in Jefferson, this State, 
on April 12, 1843, his parents being Robert 
and Rosetta (Gardner) Crapser. Hisjiaternal 
grandfather, Albertus Crapser, who was of 
Dutch lineage, died in Claverack at the age 
of seventy. He was by occupation a farmer, 
and in politics at first a Whig and later a Re- 
publican. He had a family of five sons and 
four daughters. 

Robert Crapser, stni of Albertus antl father 



of the subject of this biograph)', was born and 
reared in Greenville, N. Y. , but moved to 
Claverack in early manhood. He was first a 
Whig in politics and later a Republican, and 
was very active and influential in pulilic 
affairs. When about sixty years of age he 
was drowned while sailing on the Hudson as 
a passenger aboard the Berkshire boat. In 
early life he taught school for some time dur- 
ing the winters, and worked at boating dur- 
ing the summer.s. Later he gave all his time 
to farming. At the age of thirty lie married 
Rosetta, daughter of Andrew Gardner. She 
is still living at the age of seventy-eiglit, and 
makes her home with her son Wallace. The 
father had at one time two hundred acix-s of 
land under cultivation. He was a Justice of 
the Peace for many years. His religious pref- 
erences were Lutheran. He had only one 
other child beside his son Wallace — namely, 
Jesse, who was taken prisoner by the rebels at 
the battle of (lettysburg, and who subse- 
cjuently died from the hardships of his pri.son 
life, being still under his majority at the time 
of his death. 

Wallace \V. Crapser received a good com- 
mon-school training in Summit. He early 
began farming, and engaged in that occujiation 
until 1894, being located about a mile above 
the village of Charlotteville on a farm of a 
hundred acres, and giving special attention to 
dairying. On the ist of April, 1897, he 
practically retired from business. Mr. Crap- 
ser is one of the valued workers of the Meth- 
odist church, with which he has been connected 
for the last twenty years. He is a trustee and 



378 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



steward of the church, also class leader; 
and for throe years he was sii]5erintendcnt of 
the Sunday-school. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican, but he has never sought office, though 
warmly interested in the success of liis [jarty. 
Mr. Crapser was first married to Mary J. 
W'hortnn. She died in 1.S91, having been the 
nidthei- of two cliildren, namely: Albert, who 
died at two \ears of iigc ; anti Charles, who re- 
sides with his father. Mr. Cra]3ser married 
for his second wife Mis. Mar\- IMulter Dorwin, 
the widow of Philip Dorwin. Her former 
husband was a lawyer and a leading citizen of 
South Worcester, also a prominent Demo- 
cratic worker. She is a daughter of J. D. 
Multer, a very successful chiiry farmei" of this 
region ant! a strong Republican and active 
Methodist. Mrs. Crapser has four sisters, 
namely: Martha, who is the wife of James 
I"o.\ ; Alice, who is the wife of Thomas Spang- 
ler; I'di/.abeth, who is Mrs. Bulson ; and 
Rose, who is Mrs. Cahin liutts. Mrs. Crap- 
ser taught school for snrne time before her mar- 
riage. She is a member of the W. C. T. U. 
and one of the acti\e workers in the church. 
Mr. Crapser h;is alwa\s been (ipposetl to the 
li(|Ui>i' traffic, and is exceedingly temperate in 
al I his habits. 



(S 



^yuwARi) h:Ar()N lomax, m.d., 

the leading i)h\sici;ui of New Halti- 
-' more, (ireene Count\', \'.\'., is a 
native of the city of Albany, and was born on 
April 30, 1S68, son nf Jnbn and Martha 
(Iviton) Lomax. On the ])aternal side he is 



descended from French Protestants, or Hugue- 
nots, who, after the revocation of the Kdict of 
Nantes in 16S5, fled from persecution in their 
native country to iMigland. 

The Doctor's paternal gr;uidfather emigrated 
from haigland some time after his marriage, 
and, settling in Boston, Mass., there engaged 
in the manufacture of soap and tallow candles. 
His sou John was born in England, but was 
brought up in Boston, and learned the harness- 
maker's trade in that city. Nearl\- forty _\-ears 
ago John Lomax, the Doctor's father, took a 
position with Holland Terrell, the well-known 
harness manufacturer of Albany, anil is now 
foreman of the establishment, which is said to 
be the largest of its kiiul in tlie world. He is 
an active Republican, and he takes a warm 
interest in all M:isonic affairs. Among the 
Masonic offices he has held may be named the 
following: Master of Mount \'ernon Lodge, 
F. & A. M., in 1.S70; secretary of the same 
for fourteen years; director in the Masonic 
Relief Association of Alban}', and one ol its 
trustees for fifteen years; ami secretary of the 
Masonic X'eteran Association for three years. 
His wife, Martha, was born in Chelsea, Mass. 
She is a member of the Lpiscopal church. Ot 
their eight children five are living — Llla, 
Hattie, l-'annie, Howard V.., and lulith. Llla 
is the wife of Harry Knight, of Denver, Col. ; 
Hattie is the wife of C. W. I'"oinian, of ^'ork- 
town, N.\'. ; b'annieis Mrs. C'harles .A. Pray, 
of Lelianoii, Me. ; and lulilh is principal of 
the Albany Training .School for leachers. 

Dr. Loma.x was graduated from the .Mhany 
High School in iSSS. He subsi'quciit !)■ en- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



379 



gaged as a draughtsman in New Ydik City for 
a year with Gillani, the celebrated cartoonist 
of Judge. He then entered the Albany Medi- 
cal College, from which he was graduated in 
1892, and he has since been engaged in the 
practice of his profession in this town. Dur- 
ing his first year in the high school he was 
awarded a gold medal for excellence in draw- 
ing, being the first bo\' and tlie first Freshman 
to receive a medal in the history of that school. 
He still retains much of his early skill with 
the pencil. The Doctor's course in the medi- 
cal college was one of distinction. He won 
two prizes, and at graduation received honor- 
able mention in three subjects. Since coming 
here he has built up the largest practice the 
town has ever known, and is as popular as he 
is successful. He has been three times vice- 
president of the Greene County Medical So- 
ciety, and has written numerous papers and 
addresses on medical subjects, and some 
articles for publication in medical journals. 
He is a devoted student of natural history, and 
has a fine entomological collection, also an 
interesting collection of snakes and serpents. 

Dr. Lomax is a fine .singer and a skilful per- 
former on the ])iano, organ, and flute. He 
began playing the flute in early boyhood, under 
the instruction of his father, who was a fine 
flutist and a member of Gilniore's celebrated 
band when first it was organized. When a boy 
of only sixteen the Doctor was in demand for 
orchestras. As he became older his musical 
ability was of great service to him, enabling 
him to ]3ay his college expenses. For two 
seasons he performed on (jne of the tlay boats 



running from Albany, and in the evenings 
played in the orchestra at the Leland Opera 
House. For two seasons he was at .Saratoga in 
the orchestra and for two seasons at the Pros- 
pect Park House in the Catskills. He has 
])layed under all the leading conductors of 
Albany, and is well known among the musi- 
cians of that city. 

Like his father. Dr. Lomax is interested in 
masonry. He is now serving his second term 
as Master of Social Friendship Lodge, No. 
741, of New Baltimore, and has held various 
other offices in the lodge, among them that of 
Senior Deacon. Li politics he is a Republi- 
can. P'or the last four years he has been one 
of the health officers of the town. He is a 
Deacon in the Dutch Reformed church, of 
which both he and his wife are members, and 
Mrs. Lomax has played the organ for both 
church and Sunday-school. 

The Doctor's marriage took ]ilace in Sep- 
tember, 1S97. Mrs Lomax is the daughter of 
Newton Sweet, a leading citizen of New Balti- 
more. Her grandfather, Joshua Sweet, who 
was born in Chesterville, Albany County, was 
u carpenter by trade. He worked on the old 
Catskill Mountain House, and later came to 
New Baltimore and engaged in contracting and 
building until his death, at the age of sixty- 
eight. His wife, Laura Baker, died at the age 
of seventy-four. She was one of the eight 
children of an Englishman who came with his 
family from Fngland to I'hilatlelphia, from 
there by stage to New York, thence u|) the 
Hudson to Albanv, and thence by stage to 
Coeymans. He engaged in mercantile life in 



38o 



BIOGRAPHICAI. REVIEW 



New York City, and there fell a \'ictiiii to 
small-piix. Jii.shua and Laura Sweet were the 
]xirents of three children: Frank; Newton; and 
Lama, who married Watson Ham. 

Newton Sweet was born in this town on De- 
cember iT), iX4iS. After attendint; Coeymans 
Academy foi- four years, he l)ei;an teaching 
school winters and working;- at carpenteriiii;- 
summers. 'I'his he continued till twent3'-four 
years of age, when he left off his tratle and 
thenceforward kept at his [)rofessional work 
all the year. lie taught succcssivel)- in the 
graded school at the Iron Works, Tro)-, where 
he remained ti\e \ears ; in the graded school in 
Coevmans ; in New ]?altimore for a _\-ear; and 
then, ill the year 1893-94, in West Co.xsackie. 
While at New Baltimore he was elected Super- 
visor for i.S.S/ oil the Republican ticket. 
Tin- Idlliiwing year he was elected .School 
Commissioner from the .Second District of 
Greene Coimt\-, wliich included the towns of 
New Haltimore, Coxsackie, tlreenville, Dur- 
ham, Ashland, Windham, and I'rattsvi I Ic. 
lie had eighty schools lo look after and a 
hundreil teachers to examine, and nuist visit 
each school twice a year. After serving three 
years he was re-elected for a sec<ind term, at 
the close of which he began teaching in West 
Coxsackie. At the end of a year there he was 
secured for the New Haltimore school, but 
while attending a teachers' institute in Cairo, 
where the Republican convention was in ses- 
sion, he was ntjminated for the Assembly. 
He was triumphantly elected by a majority of 
four hundred, going ninety ballots ahead of the 
ticket in this town, and being the third Super- 



vi.sor ever elected on the Rei)ublican ticket in 
this Democratic stronghokl. He voted for the 
Raines Bill, and in 1897 was re-elected hy a 
majority of live hundred and fifty. During 
his two terms he rendered his constituents 
valuable service. He introduced a bill to pro- 
hibit vivisection in the ])ul)lic schools, ami 
ser\ed on \'arious educational committees. 

Mr. .Sweet has resided in New Haltimore 
\illage for the last eighteen years. He is 
prominent in Masonic circles and in the 
Knights of l'\tliias. His wife, Adelaide, was 
born in Coeymans, the danghtei- of I'hilipand 
Jane (\'an .Allen) Winne. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sweet lia\c five chikli'cn I-'rank, Jane (Mrs. 
Lamox), Laura, Isaac, and .\iba. l-'rank is 
the foreman of Cushman's bakei}' in New York 
City. He married Marietta \'anderpool, 
daughter of Dr. A. V. S. \'anderpool, of this 
town. Isaac has been for tlie List three \'ears 
ipiaitermaster on the "Dean Richmond." 
Arba is preparing to be a locomoti\e engineer. 

Mrs. Lomax taught school in New ]5altimore 
with most flattering success for some time 
before her marriage. .She is a fine musician. 
The Doctor and his wife liave one s(ni, Ld- 
mund W. Lomax. 




ILLIAM L. THORrb;, of Cat.skill, 
**V N.V., member of the tinn of Mal- 
colm & Co., was born in Conesville, .Schoharie 
County, on November 15, 1869, his parents 
being Douglass and Catherine H. (Ingraham) 
Thorpe. His paternal grandfather, Amos 
Thorpe, was born in the town of Hroome, 




WILLIAM E. THORPE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



383 



Schoharie County. Me was a blacksmith by 
trade, and worked at that occupation all his 
life. He also did some farming. The death 
of Amos Thorpe took place in Conesville. 

Douglass Thorpe was born in Conesville on 
March g, 1832. He worked somewhat in the 
smithy with his father, but when about nine- 
teen years of age began learning the carpen- 
ter's trade. Subsequentl)' he went to Dy- 
berry Falls, Pa., to assist in putting up a 
tannery, and after it was completed he re- 
turned to Conesville and settled on a farm. 
While there he was twice Supervisor of the 
town. In 1 88 1 he came to Catskill, and for 
the two .succeeding years was in the grocery 
business in company with a Mr. Bassett, 
under the firm name of Bassett & Thorpe. 
Upon his retirement from business he was 
made Superintendent of Streets, which ofifice he 
filled for two years. More recently he has 
been in poor health. He is a trustee of the 
Methodist church, anil both he and his wife 
are members of it. 

Mrs. Catherine H. Thorpe was born in Dur- 
ham, and spent her life there until she was 
eighteen, when she removed to Conesville. 
She taught school from the time she was fif- 
teen years old rmtil she was married, at 
twenty-two. She has been the mother of two 
children — William E. and George N., the 
last-named of whom resides on a farm in 
Conesville. Mrs. Thorpe's father was Ezra 
Ingraham, son of William and Hester (Doty) 
Ingraham. Her mother was Charlotte Newell, 
daughter of Seth Newell, a soldier of the War 
of iiSi2, who contracted disease while in the 



service and died from its effects. William 
Ingraham, her grandfather, was born in Say- 
brook, Conn. He came to Durham among the 
early settlers, and had a grant of a small farm, 
but worked most of the time at his trade, which 
was that of a cooper. He died at the age of 
eighty. His wife, Hester, who was born in 
Saybrook, Conn., died at fifty-five. William 
and Hester (Doty) Ingraham had ten children, 
all of whom are now deceased. Their son Ezra 
was born in Durham. He was a shoemaker by 
trade, but much of his life was spent on a farm 
in Conesville, where he died at the age of 
fifty-six. His wife, who died at the age of 
eighty-two, bore him three children, of whom 
only Catherine (Mrs. Thorpe) is living. 

William E. Thorpe attended school in 
Conesville until he was about twelve years 
old, when the family removed to Catskill. 
Here he entered the high school. At seven- 
teen he had finished his studies, and entered 
the employ of Smith & Forshew, dry goods 
merchants, with whom he remained for a year. 
At the end of that time he took a position as 
book-keeper with Van Brocklin & Co. in the 
Catskill Knitting Mill. When, nine years 
later, Mr. Van Brocklin retired and the Mal- 
colm Company was formed, Mr. Thorpe took 
an interest in the business, this being in Jan- 
uary, 1897. The annual output "of this mill is 
valued at between two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand and three hundred thousand dollars. 
Woollen underwear is manufactured, also 
men's dress shirts. This firm is one of the 
pioneer concerns in the making of fleece- lined 
goods. That its product bears a solid reiuita- 



384 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



tinii in the markcl ma)- be gathered from tlie 
fact that (hiriiiL;' all the recent business dejires- 
sion the mill has been running steadily and 
often over lunirs. Sales are made through the 
company's agents tlirect to the jobbing trade, 
and there is not a State in the Union that does 
not jnuchase goods of Malcolm & ("o. One 
noticeable thing in the history of this business 
has been the cordial feeling between the em- 
ployers and the workmen. Mr. Thorpe began 
work in the oflfice at six dollars a week, and 
had his salary increased from time to time 
until it reached twenty-four dollars a week, 
lie forms a striking examjile of what can be 
accomplished by faithfulness and api)lication. 
In March, 1898, Mr. Thorpe was chosen 
Trustee of Catskill and after one year Presi- 
dent of the village. His politics are Republi- 
can. He is a member of Catskill Lodge of 
Masons, No. 468, and its organist; a charter 
member of the Catskill Royal Arch Chapter; 
member of the Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge 
No. 189, in which he has occupied the Noble 
Grand's chair; and also a member of the Rip 
Van Winkle Club. Lor two years he was a 
choir leader in the Methodist church, but he 
now holils membership in the Reformed 
church. I'"or five years he was a member of the 
Sixteenth Separate Company, N. G. S. N. Y. , 
and for two years, or until his discharge, a 
member of the l-Mrst Ambulance Cor|)s. He 
has always shown a warm interest in the fire 
department, and is at the present time president 
of W'iley Hose Company and vice-president of 
the Hudson River Volunteer JMremen's Asso- 
ciation. He is a singer of unusual merit, and 



has sung on man\' public occasions. While in 
the employ of Mr. \'an Hrncklin, Mr. Thorpe 
was the recipient of many handsome presents, 
being remembered most generously on each 
recurring Christmas. 




ENJAMIN F. ANh WILLIAM C. 
PL.XTNLR. of PrattsviUe, N.Y., 
are sons of Cornelius and Laura 
(Parmentier) Platner. Their paternal grand- 
father was a native and lifelong resident of 
Hudson, \.\'. 

Cornelius Piatner was born in PrattsviUe in 
t'ebruary, iSji. He learned the trade of 
hatter, which he followed here for many 
years, first as a journeyman and later in com- 
pany with Theodore Rudoljjh, as a member of 
the firm of Platner & Rudoljili. Their sho|) 
was at one time destroyed by a Hood, but they 
rebuilt it, and subsecjuently continued the 
business. Their partnership being finally 
dissolved, Mr. Platner opened a restaurant in 
the building now occupied by his sons, and 
carried it on for some time. He held quite a 
prominent position in the community, took an 
active interest in town affairs, and served sev- 
eral years as Deputy Sheriff. He was also 
active in military matters, and was connected 
with the militia in the early training days. 
In ]M)litics he was a Democrat. 

His wife, Laura, was a native of Tanners- 
ville, N. v., and a daughter of Winthrop Par- 
mentier. Their family consisted of ten chil- 
dren, ot whiim six are now living, five being 
resiilents of I'rvittsville ; namely, Charles IL, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



38s 



Chester A., Joseph E. , Benjamin F., and 
\Villiam C. Charles H. Platner is the pro- 
prietor of a general store in Prattsviile. 
Chester A. is engaged in the feed business, 
and has also a large interest in the Stanley 
Hall farm of five hundred acres. He keeps 
one hundred cows, and deals largely in cattle, 
besides having other extensive business in- 
terests. Joseph K. is a druggist in Pratts- 
viile. Gustavus A. is a farmer residing near 
Ashland. Mrs. Laura Parmentier Platner 
died in 1895, at the age of seventy years. 

Benjamin V. and William C. Platner were 
educated in the [Hiblic schools of the village, 
and have always resided here. They formed 
their copartnership February i, 1SS5, both 
having had some previous experience as 
clerks. They have since conducted a very 
thriving general mercantile business. Their 
store, of which they are the owners, stands on 
what was formerly the old Platner homestead, 
and measures fifty by fifty feet, exclusive of 
the house and store-rooms. They carry the 
largest stock of general goods in this section, 
their boot and shoe depaitment being the 
largest between Kingston and Catskill. 
They have been very successful, and their 
business is continually on the increase. 
Ouiet, unassuming gentlemen, they enjoy a 
wide popularity. 

Mr. William C. Platner married on June 5, 
1895, Miss Marion Becker, of Grand Gorge, 
an estimable lady, the daughter of Thomas 
and l{lizabeth (Wyckoff) Becker, then of that 
place, but now of Stamford village. He is a 
Democrat politically, but hitherto has de- 



clined office, preferring to give his undivided 
attention to his business. He was formerly 
interested in the then proposed Kingston & 
Utica Railway, being secretary of the com- 
pany. He is a member of Oasis Lodge, No. 
119, F. & A. M., which he joined in 18S8, 
and in which he has filled some of the chairs, 
being now Senior Warden. He and his wife 
belong to the Reformed church, which they 
attend and help support. 




RTHUR HENRY FAROUHER, late 
a well-known furniture manufacturer 
and dealer of Schoharie, N.Y., was 
born in the town of Berne, in Albany County, 
this State, on October 27, 1840, and died at 
his home in Schoharie, a few weeks since, 
August 9, 1899. He was a son of James and 
Margaret (Clark) Farquher. His paternal 
grandfather, John P'arquher, was a butcher by 
trade, and was engaged for a time in the 
market business in Ireland. In 1S30 Grand- 
father P'arquher came to America and settled 
in Berne, N.Y., where his son James had pre- 
ceded him. 

James Farquher was born in Ireland, and 
remained in that country until after his mar- 
riage. He was educated in the public schools 
there, and subsequently engaged in the 
market business until he purchased a farm. 
Believing that the New World offered great 
opportunities to the industrious and enterpris- 
ing, he came over to this country with his 
wife and one child, and eventually met with 
the success he had hoped for. At first, how- 



386 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ever, it was an uphill road to climb. When 
he arrived in Albany he foiind that his money 
had given out, and he was obliged to walk 
from that city to Rensselaerville. After 
])r()sperity came to him, he bought a farm, and 
there lived until his death, at the age of 
eighty-two. He made many friends in his 
adoiJted country, being highly respected by his 
fellows on account of his industry and hon- 
esty. He was at first a Whig and later a Re- 
])ul)lican; and he was warmly inlerestetl in the 
i'resbyterian church, of which his wife was a 
member. Mrs. Margaret I'arciuher was born 
in Ireland, being the daughter of a farmer and 
one of a family of five children. .She lived 
to be seventy-si.\ years of age. .She was the 
mother of thirteen chililren, of whom nine grew 
to maturity, namely : John: William; Joseph; 
Jane, who is the widow of Daniel Carey; 
Elizabeth; Arthur H.; Thomas; Mary, who 
is the wife of Rensselaer Taylor; and 
Francis. 

Arthur H. Farc|uber spent his boyhood 
years in Berne, attending the public schools, 
and during vacation time assisting his father 
on the farm. In 1<S57, at the age of seven- 
teen, he left home and went to Gilboa, where 
he served three years' apprenticeshii) at the 
cabinet-maker's trade, and subsequently re- 
mained a year as journeyman. 

On September 25, 1861, Mr. b'arquher en- 
listed in the military service of his country, 
and on the first day of the succeeding October 
was assigned to the United States Lancers. 
( )n November 2 of the same year he was 
transferred to Compan\' H of the I-'oiirth New 



York Heavy Artillery, and while a member of 
that company saw some of the hardest fighting 
that occurred in the whole course of the Civil 
War. The following are among the engage- 
ments in which he took part: battle of the 
Wilderness, on ]\Iay 6, 1864; Todd"s Tavern, 
on May 8; Hart's Farm, May 9; Spottsylvania 
Court House, May 12; North Anna River, on 
May 23; Sheldon F\arm, on May 30; Cold 
Harbor, on June 3, 1864; Petersburg, on 
June 18 and July 30, 1864; Deep Bottom, on 
August 14: Ream's Station, on August 25; 
Mile Run, cm December 9, 1864; Hatcher's 
Run, on February 5. 1865; assault on the 
lines, on March 25; ojiening the campaign, 
on March 28, 29, and 30; South Side Road, 
on A]iril 2. He was at Appomattox at the 
time of the surrender of Lee, April g, 1865. 
Mr. b'arquher went into the service as a pri- 
vate, and came out of it as a Sergeant. The 
Colonel of his regiment was Colonel John C. 
Tiddball, and the Lieutenant Colonel, Thomas 
Alcott. D. F. Hamlin was the i\Lajor. The 
detachment of whicii Mr. b^arquher's company 
formetl a [xirt left Washington for the front 
with twenty-two himdred men, and in five 
months' fighting, from M.irch 23 to August 
25, lost eighteen hundred. In one engage- 
ment of an hour's (hiration sixty men of his 
own company fell. Mr. b'arqnher was one of 
those who escaped unhurt. He seemed to 
bear a charmed life, and was not even 
wounded. The terrible slaughter at Peters- 
burg he never forgot. It stood out among 
many other scenes of horror as the most 
(i ireful of all. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



387 



Returning to Gilboa, after being discliarged 
in October, 1865, Mr. Farquher worked for 
his old em[5loyer until the fall of 1866, when 
he came to Schoharie, antl began working for 
a man who was located in the same building 
in which he, Mr. Farquher, subsequently car- 
ried on business. In 1874 he became a part- 
ner, and a year later the firm changed and 
became Farquher & Settle, which was in busi- 
ness for two years and a half. Mr. Farquher 
then took his first partner, who remained with 
him for some seven years. At the end of that 
time Mr. Farquher became full proprietor of 
the business, and henceforth he continued it 
alone. Occupying the four floors of his large 
building, he carried a very large stock of fur- 
niture, and had an extensive trade. After 
1893 his manufacturing of furniture was con- 
fined mostly to custom work of the highest 
grade. The business has been established 
here for over fifty years, and has always 
merited the full confidence of the public. As 
a consequence its fair reputation has spread, 
and its patrons have come from long dis- 
tances. The undertaking department has also 
been long established here, and is the only 
one in town. 

Mr. Farquher was married to his first wife 
in 1865. She was Maria C. Benjamin, 
daughter of Ebenezer B-'njamin, a farir.er of 
Gilboa. In religious faith she was a Meth- 
odist. She died at the age of thirty-one, 
having been the mother of three children; 
namely, Fr.d R.. Minnie E., and Henj imin |. 
Fred R., who married Mary R. L.irkins, is a 
furniture dealer and undertaker at Central 



Bridge. Minnie married Robert A. Dewey, 
cashier in one of the Schoharie banks, and she 
is the mother of one son, Arthur. Benja- 
min J. was his father's assistant. He is an 
enterprising and able young man, and bids 
fair to equal his father in business ability. 
Mr. Arthur H. Farquher married for his sec- 
ond wife Ida M. Schoolcraft, who was born in 
the town of Wright, being one of a family of 
five children of Peter P. Schoolcraft, a farmer. 
She died at the age of thirty. .She was a 
member of the Lutheran church. The pres- 
ent Mrs. Farquher was before her marriage 
Amanda Wright. She is a daughter of Ezra 
Wright and a native of Albany County. 

In politics Mr. P^arquher was a Republican. 
He was a trustee of the village for eight 
years, and at the time of his death was still 
serving as president, having held the office for 
four years. This is a strongly Democratic 
town. Mr. Farquher usually refused public 
office, but at one time, in order to gratify the 
wishes of the party leaders, he permitted his 
name to be used on the Republican ticket for 
Supervisor, and thereby reduced the Demo- 
cratic majority from three hundred and six- 
teen to thirty-five. He was a member and for 
three years was treasurer of Schoharie Valley 
Lodge of Masons, No. 491, having held also 
numerous other offices in the lodge. For 
twenty-nine years he was a member of the fire 
department, and much of the time either fore- 
man of the company or chief engineer of the 
dcpirtm'.nl. He tuok in active part in ,ill 
movements affecting the int^r.-sts of the town 
and was one of those foremost in securing the 



3S8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



incorporation of the vill:i,i;e. He was a mem- 
ber and had been Commander of Hoosick Mix 
Tost, No. 134, G. A. R.; also a member for 
many years of the Schoharie County Histori- 
cal Society. He was an attendant of the 
Lutheran church of this place, and his son is 
Deacon of the church. 



VcAjMI.I.IAM JA^H'IS SMP:ALLIE, a 
V; W, thrilt\- farmer cif Print etown, Scho- 
harie County, N.V., was born in this town, 
iMay 10, 1852, son of John and Jane (Milmine) 
.Smeallie. His father was born here March 
3, 1816, and his mother was liorn in Florida, 
N.Y. , March 26, 18 16. His luiternal grand- 
father, James Smeallie, was hcnn in Linlith- 
gowshire, Scotland, Ajiril 18, 1786, and came 
to America in iSii. James Smeallie settled 
ujion a farm in the northerly part of Prince- 
town, where he resided the rest of his life. He 
was quite prominent in public affairs, serving 
as Sii|)ervis(ir and School Commissioner, and 
he was one of the founders of the United 
Presbyterian Church of l'"lorida, N.Y. He 
married his cousin, Mar\' .Smeallie. She was 
the daughter of his uncle, John Smeallie, first, 
a native of Scotland, who came to this country 
and served as a soldiei' in the Revolutionary 
War. 

John -Smeallie, second, son of James and 
Mary, was a prosperous farmer and lifelong 
resident of Princetown. Being a man of pro- 
gressive tendencies, he made good use of his 
resources, and realized excellent resnlts as a 
general farmer. In |iolitics he was originall}' 



a Whig and later a Republican. He was a 
member of the Scotch church. Jane Milmine 
Smeallie, his wife, became the mother of three 
children, namely: Mary E., wife of John M. 
Conover ; William J., the subject of this 
sketch; and Agnes Smeallie, of I'lincetown. 
John Smeallie, second, lived to be seventy-five 
years old, but Mrs. Smeallie died at thirty- 
eight. 

William James Smeallie was educated in the 
district schools. He resided in Duanesburg 
for ten )'ears, but with that exception has been 
engaged in general farming in Princetown ever 
since reaching manhood. He is now the owner 
of one hundred acres of fertile land, compris- 
ing one of the best farms in town. He makes 
a specialt)' of breeding Jersey cattle and fancy 
15oultry, owning at the present time some fine 
specimens of each, and his buildings are well 
adapted for these purposes. 

Mr. Smeallie has served with ability as K\- 
cise Commissioner twelve years, and is now 
holding the (}fiFice of Overseer of the Poor. In 
politics he acts with the Republican |iarty. 
The family has long enjoyed local distinction 
for thrift and prosperity, and the subject of 
this sketch has fully demonstrated his ability 
to maintain this rejnitation. Mr. Smeallie is 
unmarried. He attends the L'nitcd Presb\- 
terian church, of which he was elected ]'21der 
in 1883. 

•^KNJAMIN H. AVERY,* an enter- 
^y\ prising merchant of JefTerson, 
.Schoharie County, and an ex-mem- 
ber of the New York State legislature, was 




BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



589 



born in Jefferson, December 29, 1852, son of 
Beriah and Lydia (Buckingham) Avery. His 
immigrant progenitor, Christopher Avery, 
came over from England early in the Colonial 
period, lived for some years at Gloucester, 
Mass., and was Selectman there in 1646, 
1652, and 1654. In March, 1658-9, Christo- 
pher Avery bought land and one-half of a 
house in Boston, situated where the pcst-office 
now stands. This property he sold in 1663, 
and in 1665 he bought a house and lot in New 
London, Conn., his son James having moved 
to that colony some years before. 

From Christopher the line is traced through 
James, Thomas, Abraham, William, l^en- 
jamin, John, and Beriah to Benjamin H., the 
subject of this sketch. The original dwell- 
ing-house, built by Captain James Avery in 
1656 in what was formerly New London and 
afterward Groton, Conn., was burned in July, 
1894. Some of the Avery ancestors fought in 
the Revolutionary War, and a monument to 
their memory has been erected by John D. 
Rockefeller, the Standard Oil magnate, who 
is related to the family. 

John Avery, the grandfather, who was a 
tanner, served in the Assembly in 1850, and 
held other offices. Beriah Avery, Benjamin 
Avery's father, was engaged in mercantile 
business in Jefferson for a number of years, 
and was quite active in public affairs, serving 
as Supervisor with marked ability. He was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
His wife, Lydia, who was a daughter of Will- 
iam Buckingham, of Harpersfield, became the 
mother of four children — -William, Benjamin, 



Mary, and Edward. William, who succeeded 
to his father's business, died in 1876, aged 
about twenty-si.x years; and Mary and Edward 
died in early childhood. Beriah Avery died 
in 1891, at the age of si.\ty-seven years, his 
wife having died one week previous. 

Benjamin Avery attended school in Char- 
lotteville for a time, and completed his studies 
at the Stamford Seminary. Going to River 
P'alls, Wis., he was employed there as a clerk 
until 1876, when he returned to Jefferson, and 
purchased the business left by his brother 
William. He has one of the largest and old- 
est established general stores in town, and 
ranks among the substantial merchants in this 
part of the county. As a member of the 
Board of Supervisors he was active in forward- 
ing the interests of the town. In the legis- 
lature he introduced no less than twenty-four 
bills, fourteen of which became laws. He 
was assigned to the Committees on Internal 
Affairs, Villages, Fish and Game, and Agri- 
culture, being chairman of the first-named 
body; and his work in the committee-room 
and upon the floor was heartily commended by 
the majority of voters, irrespective of party. 
Politically, he is a Democrat. He has been 
treasurer of the water company since its 
organization, having been instrumental in 
securing the construction of the works, and 
he was a director of the old railroad line. 

Mr. Avery married Anna D. Fuller, daugh- 
ter of J. Dean F"uller, of Jefferson. They 
have two children — William H. and Edna B. 
P'or twenty-two years Mr. Avery has been a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 



39° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in whicli he lias seivctl as stevvartl ami Sunday- 
school siiperintenclent for a greater part of 
that time. Mr. Avery is an Odd Fellow, be- 
longing to Richmondville Lodge, No. 525, 
and is also a member of the band, of which he 
has been leader for a number of years. Mrs. 
Avery is a member of the church and of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 



(^OIIN :\L'\GINNIS,* superintendent of 
the Athens Knitting Mill, was burn in 
(iilboa, Schoharie County, on June 5, 
1849, son of Patrick and Mary (Brady) Magin- 
nis. His jxirents were both born in Ireland. 

Patrick Maginnis was a tanner by trade, and 
followed that occupation after coming to this 
country and settling in (iilboa. He retired 
from business at about fifty years of age, and 
dietl about ten \ears later. His wife, wlio 
was also born in Ireland, died at si.\t\-si.\. 
Of their ten children four are living; namely, 
Bernard, Anna, John, and Mary. Anna is the 
wife of James Fitzpatrick. Mary married 
James Mitchell, since deceased. All the chil- 
ilren were born in this country. 

John Maginnis remained in his native place 
up to the age nf nineteen. He received his 
early education in the public schoids and at 
a seminar}', and snbsequentl\- studied with pri- 
vate teachers and also in an evening school. 
Ills first industrial e.\|)erience was in the cot- 
ton sheeting mill in Cilboa, and while there 
he worked in e\er\ deinutment. His second 
was in the Harmony Mills at Cohoes, where 
he worked ten years as overseer in the weaving 



room. Following this he was for ten years in 
the \'an Allen Cotton Mills at Stuyvesant 
Falls, five \ears in Valatieas superintendent of 
the Wild Manufacturing Company, and seven 
)'ears sujierintenilent of the Harder Knitting 
Compan\' in Hudson. At the end of that time 
he settled here in his jiresent business. He 
was one of the organizers of the company, and 
he superintended the building of the mill and 
the putting in of the machinery. The factory 
is two hundred and twent\- feet long by fifty- 
five feet in width, and is two stories high. It 
has si.x sets of machiner\% all of which are 
made after the most improved plans, and is de- 
voted to the manufacture of fleecc-lineil knitted 
underwear. About one hundred and fift)' 
hands are employed, all of whom are hired and 
superintended by Mr. Maginnis. He attends 
to the disposing of the output of the mill, 
sending goods to every State in the Union. 

Mr. Maginnis has been twice married. His 
first wife, whose maiden name was Libbie 
Sparlin, was born in Hensonville. Her father 
was Philiji .Sparlin, a hatter. She died at the 
age of thirt\-two, having been the mother of 
two sons— \\illiam and Byron. The former, 
who is a baker in North Adams, Mass., is 
married and has three children — Willie, 
Helen, and Jdhii. Bvi'on is also married. 
He is an engineer in the fire department of 
Cohoes. Mr. Maginnis's second wife was be- 
fore her marriage F'mma Peck. She was born 
in Craigsville. 

Mr. Maginnis is a Ke])ubliian in politics. 
He served as Alderman from Ward Five in 
Hudson. He has always been a most success- 




JOHN McGINMS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



393 



fill man, and since he began working has never 
been without a ]Xjsition. On account of his 
skill in his chosen line he has frequently been 
solicited to enter positions more profitable 
than the one he was holding when asked. In 
Cohoes he was one of thirteen to help put up 
the machinery, and was engaged as overseer. 
While in Stuyvesant Falls he introduced new 
machinery into the mill, and remodelled the 
old, so that the output of the mill there was 
largely increased. 

Mr. Maginnis has been a member of the 
Methodist church for twenty years. Both his 
wives have also been members. In whatever 
town he has been living, he has taken an 
active part in all church matters and in the 
Sunday-school. While in Hudson he had 
charge of the prison work of the Young Men's 
Christian Association. He has been a trustee 
of every church with which he has been con- 
nected, and in Stuyvesant Falls and \'alatie 
was superintendent of the Sunday-school. 




.^\s 



|APTAIN JAMES STEAD, superin- 
tendent and manager of the Catskill 
and New York Steamboat Evening 
Line at Catskill, N.Y., was born in Cairo, this 
State, on May 23, 1832, his parents being 
David and Hannah (Mackelwaite) Stead. 

The father, David Stead, was born in Hud- 
dersfield, England, and in early life was em- 
ployed there in a woollen manufactory. He 
came to America when forty years of age, and 
settled in Cairo, where he bought a farm. For 
a time he carried on a woollen manufactory in 



Woodstock, a part of Cairo, but he subse- 
quently closed out the business and engaged in 
farming. He died at the age of eighty, after 
having li\ed retired for some time in the vil- 
lage of Cairo. He was an old-time Whig, 
but though warmly interested in all public 
affairs was never an aspirant for office. His 
wife, Hannah, who also was of English birth, 
died in Cairo at the age of seventy-nine. She 
bore him four children, of whom there are liv- 
ing — James, John, and Levi. John, who re- 
sides in Cairo at the old homestead, carries on 
a boarding-house; Levi is in business in Chi- 
cago; and Charles is deceased. Both parents 
were members of the Episcopal church. 

James Stead left home at eighteen years of 
age, and went to work as clerk in the office of 
Penfield, Day & Co., who managed a steam- 
boat line between New York and Catskill. Jn 
time he rose to be a captain, and he was in 
their employ in that capacity for several years. 
Subsequently, for three years, he was captain 
of a steamer owned by Hamilton & .Srnith, and 
engaged in freighting between New Baltimore 
and New York, and at the end of that time he 
acted as salesman for the same firm on a line 
of boats plying between Co.xsackie and New 
York. For a year during the Civil War he 
was in the employ of the government, acting 
as inspector of the bay for the army, it being 
his duty to load schooners at Jersey City and 
make reports to Quartermaster Brown. P'or 
the ne.xt three years after this he was captain 
of the "New Champion," a boat cnvned by 
Black & Donohue, running from Catskill to 
New York ; and, following that, he was for two 



394 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



years in company with Mr. Cicorge H. Pen- 
fiekl, his first cmjj.oyer, running a line of 
barges. Then, for a second period of three 
years, he was master of the "New Champion," 
and at the end of tliat time he became one of 
the organizers of the Catskill and New York 
Steamboat Company. 

Mr. Uonohue was superintendent <if the 
company at the start, and Captain .Stead was 
in command of one of the boats; but, upon the 
ileath of .Ml'. ]).)niihue. Captain Stead was made 
superintendent and general manager. At first 
there were two small boats, the "New Cham- 
]iion " and the "Water Hrette. " These were 
superseded after a time by the "Escort" and 
the "Charlotte Vanderbilt," which were much 
larger boats and which were in turn superseded 
by others of still greater cajiacity. In 1880 
the company built the "City of Catskill," 
which has a keel two hundred and forty-seven 
feet in length, beam thirty-five feet in width, 
and sixty-one feet over all, and has a carrying 
ca]iacity of five hundred tons and accommoda- 
tions for two hundred and fift\- passengers. In 
1882 was built the " Katterskill, " two hundred 
and eighty-five feet in length, thirty-eight feet 
beam, and si.\ty-six feet over all, and capable 
of accommodating five hundred passengers, 
This is one of tiie finest boats on the rivei, 
and one of the most jiopular. Hoth these 
boats were built under Captain .Stead's con- 
stant supervision, and they met the needs of 
the business nntil 1893, when tlie "J'^scort" 
was rebuilt and her name changed to the 
"City of Hudson. " In 1898 the "OiUeora" 
was built, length two hundred and lorty-seven 



feet, beam thirty-five feet, and sixty-three feet 
over all, and capable of carrying six hundred 
people. She was built for night service, and 
is the fastest night boat afloat, having a speed 
of twenty-three miles an hour. She has made 
the run fiom New York to Catskill, a distance 
of one hundred and twent\- miles, and made 
one landing, in four hours and twenty minutes. 
Captain .Stead takes much jiride in this boat, 
as she was built by his ]dans and measure- 
ments. She is fitted with everv convenience 
for the comfort of guests. This company is a 
stock concern, and does a large and constantly 
increasing business. Their boats connect with 
the Catskill Mountain Railroad, and in the 
summer they carry a large number of toLU"ists 
and cpiantities of freight. 

Captain .Stead was married in 1865 to 
Rachel E. Pettit, who was born in Dutchess 
County, a daughter of Lewis Pettit. One 
child has blessed this union, hla II., now the 
wife of Charles I. I-"iero, superintendent of the 
Pratt hr.mch of the .Standard Oil Company in 
Creenpoint. Mr. and Mrs. I-'iero have one 
daughter, Rachel .S. 

The Captain is a Republican in politics. 
In 1879 he was elected .Sheriff, which office he 
held until 1882, when he declined to serve 
longer. In 1883 he was elected to the legis- 
lature, where he served one year. Me is a 
prominent man in his part\', was for a long 
time a member of the County Committee, and 
has many times been a delegate to Republican 
conventions. He helped nominate Governor 
Morton. I'"or three years he was a trustee of 
the \illage, and for a year president of the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



395 



Board of Trustees. Captain Stead has the dis- 
tinction of having been longer in the boating 
business than any other man on the Hudson. 
He built his present residence in 1897. He 
is a trustee of the Catskill Savings Bank, 
and president of the Catskill Ferry Company 
running between Catskill and Catskill Station, 
and an owner in the last-named corporation. 
He is also one of the directors of the Hudson 
Steamboat Company. He attends the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, of which his wife and 
daughter are members. 



I ••■ t 



KKVI M. DEFANDORF, a .skilful 
farmer and dairyman of Seward, Scho- 
"^*^ harie County, owner and occupant 
of a fine farm lying about a mile and a half 
from H3nds\-ille village, is a representative of 
one of the oldest families in this part of the 
State of New York. He was born on this 
farm on April 26, 1S31, son of John and Eliz- 
abeth (Petrie) Defandorf. His first progenitor 
in this country, his great-grandfather, came 
from Germany. 

Jacob Defandorf, father of John, l^ought a 
large tract of heavily timbered land in Seward, 
N.Y. , which included the larger part of the 
homestead of his grandson, Levi M., and the 
adjoining estate of one hundred and seventy 
acres. In common with his neighbors, who 
were few and were settled far apart, he suf- 
fered the hardships of j^ioneer life, but with 
true German habits of industry and persever- 
ance worked steadily; and the end of each year 
saw more land cleared and larger crops har- 



vested. He died, probably in the log cabin 
which he reared on coming to the wilderness, 
at the age of fifty years, leaving a widow, Mrs. 
Susan Defandorf, and si.\ children. Mrs. De- 
fandorf was born at Frey's Bush, Montgomery 
County, and died in Seward at the age of four- 
score and four years. 

John Defandorf remained beneath the paren- 
tal roof until ready to establish a home of his 
own, when he purchased a portion of the pa- 
rental estate. Here he was successfully em- 
plo}ed in general agricultural pursuits until 
his death, at the age of si.\ty-four years. 
After he had made the last payment on his 
property, he began making needed improve- 
ments. The present dwelling-house was 
erected by him. A man of intelligence, he 
was greatly interested in all things pertaining 
to the welfare of the town, but was never an 
aspirant for official honors. He married Eliz- 
abeth Petrie, one of the se\'en children of John 
Handrake Petrie, a well-known farmer of Car- 
lisle, Schoharie County. I-^olu- children were 
born of their union, and two of them are liv- 
ing, namely: Julia Ann, wife of Austin 
P'rance, of Seward \'alley; and Levi M. 
The parents were consistent memjjers of the 
Methodist church. 

Levi M. Defandorf attended the district 
school when it was in session during his boy- 
hood and youth, and in the same period was so 
well trained at home that he became as famil- 
iar with the work of the farm as he was with 
his books. On attaining his majority, he 
bought one hundred and thirty-two acres of the 
old Defandorf homestead; and, having since 



396 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



added to it nineteen acres by purcliase, lie has 
a large farm, and one of the best in line of im- 
provements and appointments of any in the 
N-icinitx'. He devotes his lime to general 
farming, raising grain and hops to a considera- 
ble extent, hut mailing a specialty of stock-rais- 
ing and dairying. Frum his herd of twenty 
or more grade Holstein and Jersey cows, he 
makes butter, the greater jjart of which he ships 
to his son, who is engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness in Troy, N. Y., and some to tlie markets in 
Ohio and in Washington, D. C. He has always 
taken a great interest in the establishment of 
permanent town, county, and State agricult- 
ural associations; and as an exhibitor at fairs, 
held under the auspices of these organizations, 
Mr. Defandorf has on se\eral occasions taken 
the first ]iremium on stock. Tlie credit of 
establishing the products of his dairy as among 
the best in the market, he gladly gives to 
his deceased wife, who was an expert butter- 
maker. 

I\Ir. Defandorf married, April 25, 1850, 
Miss Lucinda R. Sexton, daughter of Austin 
Se.xton. Her father was formerly engaged in 
farming in this part of Schoharie County, 
l)Ut afterward remo\ed to Oriskany Falls, 
N.\'., wluTe he operatetl a grist-mill and 
where he sjx-nt his remaining days. Mr. 
and Mrs. Defandorf reared five children; 
namely, Mary E.., Clark B., Jason F. , John A., 
and Daniel A. Mary is the wife of Dr. Adam 
Myers, of Husk irk, Rensselaer County, and 
has two children — Victor and Raljili. Clark 
H. , deceased, married Susan Ostrandei', who 
bore him three children — Jessie, Arthur, and 



Lucinda. Jason F. Defandorf was graduated 
with high honors from the Cazenovia Acad- 
emy, afterward spent three years at the W'es- 
leyan Universit\', Middletown, Conn., and 
still later attended the Law School in Wash- 
ington, D. C, where he received the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts, and has since been employed 
by the government in the post-office and 
in the War and Treasury Departments in 
that cit\'. He married Miss Hattie Holmes, 
and has four children — lilizabeth 1'., James, 
John Levi, and Marion. John A. Defandorf 
was for one year clerk in a store at Cobleskill, 
then was several years a clerk in Troy, and 
subsecpiently went into business for himself 
witli his cousin, Charles H. Sexton, at Troy. 
He married I'^mma Smith, and they have one 
child, Clark. Daniel A., the youngest son, 
completed his education at the Cobleskill 
High School, and subsequently taught school 
several terms in Seward and Sharon. He as- 
sists his father in the care of the home farm, 
and is also a local preacher in the Methodist 
church. He married Carrie \'roman, daughter 
of Barney Vroman. 

After forty-seven years of happy wedded 
life, Mrs. Lucinda R. Defandorf passed to the 
brighter world be)'oiul, her death occurring 
June 6, 1897. She was a woman of exem- 
plary character and great personal worth, in 
every way deserving the high respect univer- 
sally accorded her. She was a faithful mem- 
ber of the Methodist church, of which Mr. 
Defandorf is one of the oldest members now 
lix'ing, anil in which he has held all the 
offices, having been a trustee and steward for 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



397 



years, a class leader for a quarter of a cen- 
tury, and for fifteen years superintendent of 
the Sunday-school, in which his wife, Lu- 
ciiida, was a teacher. lioth assisted in every 
work indorsed by the church, and their hospi- 
table home was ever open to receive the minis- 
ters of that denomination. 

On January 25, 1898, Mr. Defandorf mar- 
ried Mrs. Catherine M. Somers, daughter of 
Joseph l^^rance, a farmer of Seward, N.Y. 
Three children were born to the present Mrs. 
Defandorf and her former husband, Peter N. 
Somers — Howard S., Ernest F., and Arthur 
L. , deceased. 



(shames MADISON CASE, a prominent 
business man of Gilboa, N.Y., was 
born in this town, July 7, 1849, son of 
Daniel and Hetsey (Chichester) Case. He is 
a descendant of John Case, who came over 
from England more than two hundred and fifty 
years ago. 

A brief account of the life of John Case, 
the immigrant, by A. P. Case, of Vernon, 
N. Y., has recently appeared in print. In 
this book mention is made of records showing 
that John Case as early as 1640 was living in 
the vicinity of Hartford, Conn.; that in 1656 
he was an inhabitant of Long Island, a year 
or two later removing to Windsor, Conn., 
and in i66g one of the first settlers at Sims- 
bury, Conn., so named in 1670. For four 
years he represented the town in the General 
Court, or Assembly. He married first Sarah, 
daughter of William Sjiencer, of Hartford. 



She died in 1691, and lie afterward inarried 
Elizabeth Loomis, a widow. He had ten 
children, all by his first wife; namely, Eliza- 
beth, Mary, John, William, Samuel, Richard, 
Bartholomew, Joseph, Sarah, and Abigail. 

The Case family in England is said to have 
been numerously represented for a number of 
generations at Aylsham, Norfolk County. 
Calvin Case, who was born in Connecticut, 
Ajiril 10, 1763, came to Conesville, N.Y., 
and a few years later he moved to Gilboa, 
where he acquired two tracts of land, amount- 
ing in all to two hundred acres. The prop- 
erty he occupied, which is still known as the 
Case farm, now consists of one hundred and 
si.xty acres, and the original title is in the 
possession of his grandson, the subject of this 
sketch. His first abiding-place was a log 
hut, the entrance to which was covered with 
a blanket ; and from a struggling pioneer he 
rose to be a well-to-do farmer, stock-raiser, 
and grain dealer. Calvin Case, it is said, 
served as a minute-man in 1777, and was 
ordered to the front at the second battle of 
Stillwater, but arrived after the surrender of 
General Burgoyne. The Case family have an 
honorable recortl for patriotism, seventy or more 
of that name from Connecticut having served 
in the Revolution, upward of twenty in the 
War of 1812, and over fifty in the Civil War. 
Calvin Case was married in Connecticut, 
August 2, 1793, to Jerusha Griffin, and he 
brought three children with him to Schoharie 
County. He died January 4, 1854, aged 
ninety-one years, and liis wife, who was bom 
December 2, 1777, died May 7, 1849. They 



398 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



reared a family of thirteen children, namely: 
Calvin, who moved from Conesville to Blen- 
heim; Luther, who died at Potter's Hollow; 
Mlishn, Allen, and Krastiis, who all died in 
Conesville; Ira, who now resitles at Cones- 
ville; Daniel, James M. Case's father; 
Griffin, who died in Gil boa; Hiram, who re- 
sided in Catskill; Joel, who died while 
young; Jerusha, deceased, who married Or- 
lean l)e Witt, of Oak Hill: h'liza, who mar- 
ried S. Mackey, of Gilboa; and IMnebe, who 
married William Floss, of Gilboa. The sons 
were all farmers except Hiram, who was a 
cattle dealer, hotel-keeper, and general specu- 
lator. The grandparents were Presbyterians, 
and most of their chililren became members of 
that church. 

Daniel Case remained at the homestead to 
care for his parents in their old age, and after 
their death he succeeded to the ownership of 
the property by ])urehasing the interests of 
the other heirs. He was an energetic, indirs- 
trious, :ind successful farmer, and at his 
death, which occurred November lo, 1886, he 
left a good estate. His wife, ]5etsey, was a 
daughter of Joseph Chichester, and the maiden 
name of her mother was Welch. The Chi- 
chesters are of Scotch descent, ;uid the 
Welches are saiti to be of Dutch origin. Jo- 
seph Chichester h:ul a family of nine children. 
Daniel and Betsey Case reared hut one child, 
James M., the subject of this sketch. The 
mother died l-'ebruary 19, 1875. 

James Madison Case was educateil in Gil- 
boa, and taught several terms of school after 
the com]iletion of his studies. He assisted 



his father in farming from the time he was 
able to be of use until the age of twenty-four, 
when he engaged in general mercantile busi- 
ness in company with Abraham Walker, a 
partnership that ended at the death of Mr. 
Walker some three years later. He continued 
in business alone some .si.xteen years, or until 
about 1893, when he sold out to George E. 
Hawver. He has since given his attention to 
the bu\'ing of country pioduce, including 
butter, which he handles quite extensively. 
He also buys large quantities of wool, which 
he ships to Boston; and during the p.ist year 
his shipments amounted to over one hundred 
thousand pounds. He still owns the home- 
stead, upon which he raises some fine horses, 
and he takes special pride in preserving the 
old dwelling which was built by his grand- 
father over eighty years ago. Far the past 
ten years he has been actively interested in 
inland fisheries, in stocking the various 
streams in this locality, and is regarded as an 
authority on that subject. 

Mr. Case married Hattie E. Hawver, 
daughter of William W. and Samantha (Hay) 
Hawver. She was the first-born of eight chil- 
dren, the others being: Emma D., who died 
at the age of six years; Ella, who married 
G. N. Thorp; George E., a merchant of Url- 
ton, N.Y. ; James B., a prosperous f;irmer, 
who occupies the ol 1 homestead in Cones- 
ville; Flora A,, who died at the age of 
twenty-one years; Bertha, wife of James Car- 
penter; and M.utha, who married D. T. Fer- 
guson, of Alton, 111. Mr. and Mrs. Case 
have had two daughters: Merta, who died 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



399 



aged four years; and Mina, wlio died aged one 
year. 

In politics Mr. Case is a Democrat, and for 
a number of years was Postmaster. He has 
served upon the Town Committee several 
terms, has attended as a delegate many county 
conventions, but has never sought for or held 
local ofifices. He is a Master Mason, and be- 
longs to Gilboa Lodge, No. 630. 




'RANK RUFUS SEARLES, M.D., 
J physician and surgeon, Catskill, N. Y., 
was born in Newton, N.J., April 29, 1S6S, 
son of Arthur and Alice (Martin) Searles. 
On the paternal side he comes of English an- 
cestry, and through his materniil grandfather 
he is a descendant of French Protestants, or 
Huguenots. The first of the Searles family 
who came to America settled in Massachu- 
setts, and was a farmer. Representatives of 
the family participated in the Revolutionary 
War, the War of 181 2, and the French and 
Indian War. Dr. Searles's great-great-grand- 
father, John Finlay, was an aide on the staff 
of General Green and also on that of General 
Mifflin. 

Arthur Searles, the Doctor's father, was 
reared in Massachusetts. lie followed agri- 
culture until of age, when he went to New 
Jersey. Later he entered commercial life in 
New York, and resided there until his death, 
which occurred at the age of thirty. Mr. 
Searles is survived by his wife, Alice, and 
their only child, Frank Rufus, the special 
subject of this sketch. The Doctor's mother. 



now Mrs. Lester Leggett, resides in Plainfield, 
N.J. She has one brother, Frederick Martin. 
Her parents were Lebbeus L. and Frances 
(Beach) Martin. Her father was a wholesale 
clothing merchant of Plainfield, N.J., moved 
from that town to Newton, N.J., and at one 
time resided in New York for a short period. 
His death occurred in Plainfield, N.J., in 
1898, at the age of seventy-eight. 

Frank Rufus Searles was educated in the 
common and high schools and at Leal's Acad- 
emy, Plainfield, N.J. His medical studies 
were completed at the Long Island College 
Hospital, from which he was graduated March 
22, 1892. He began the practice of his pro- 
fession at Plainfield, N.J., where he remained 
one year, removing from there to Hunter, 
Greene County, and two years later settling in 
Catskill, N. Y. He has made rapid progress 
in his profession, and is highl\' esteemed both 
as a physician and citizen. 

On November S, 1893, Dr. .Searles was 
joined in marriage with Miss Myra Rose 
Lowrie, daughter of Dr. H. H. and Myra G. 
(Burr) Lowrie, of Plainfield. Dr. and Mrs. 
Searles have one child, P'rank Rufus Searles, 
second. There are twent)'-t\vo physicians in 
the Lowrie family, and Mrs. .Searles's father 
has practised in Plainfield many years. Her 
mother, who is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. , 
and a descendant of a br;inch of the family to 
which Aaron Burr belonged, has reared four 
children, namely: Caroline, who is the wife 
of the Rev. C. G. J^ristol, rector of Colts 
Memorial Church, Hartford, Conn. ; Myra 
Rose, now Mrs. .Searles; Maud Myra, now 



40O 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mrs. Julian Dcane, who is residiiij; at Spring- 
field, Mass.; and II. H. Lowric, Jr., who is 
manai^er of an insurance coniiiau)' in I'liila- 
delphia, I'a. 

Dr. Scarlcs has served as president of the 
Greene County Medical Society, and has fre- 
quently read jwpers before that body upon 
timel}' topics. He is now delegate to the 
Medical Societ}-, State of New York. He is 
Assistant Surgeon of the Sixteenth Comiiany, 
N. G. S., N.V., now acting captain; is 
medical examiner for a number of life insur- 
ance companies; and is local health officer 
and secretary of the Board of l". S. Pension 
Examiners of Greene County. In politics he 
is a Republican. Dr. and Mrs. Searles are 
members of Christ's Presbyterian Church. 



(^OlIN 11. PURTIS, Jr.,* proprietor of 
the Hotel St. Charles, Hunter, N.V., 
was born in Hidoklyn, I.<>ng Island, 
October 24, i86g, son of John II. and Mary 
(Thompson) Purtis. His father is a native 
of Washington County, Mew \'oik, and his 
mother was born in Nar.tucket, Mass. His 
immigrant ancestor came from I''loi"ence, Italy; 
and his great-grandfather Purtis and his grand- 
father, whose name was John, were natives 
of Washington County, this State. 

John Purtis was a carpenter and builder and 
a manufacturer of sieves. In his latter years 
he remo\ed to Hunter, where he carried on a 
large sieve factory until his deatli, which oc- 
curred in 1 8go. He was a Justice of the 



Peace many years, was familiarly known as 
Squire Purtis, and he enjoyed the esteem of all 
who knew him. In his religious belief he was 
a Presbyterian. He married for his first wife 
PLliza Lee, a native of Washington County, 
and had a large famih' of children, of whom 
the only one living is John H., Sr. The 
grandmother's death occurred many years prior 
to that of her husband. 

John H. Purtis, Sr. , was reared in Wash- 
ington Count\'. In 1845 became to Hunter, 
and purchased a tract of land comprising three 
hundred and fifty acres, mostly covered with 
timber, w-hich he at first used for sporting pm- 
poses, and later cleared for cultivation. For 
several )ears he contlucted the stove and tin- 
ware business in New York City. After that 
he engaged in the dried fruit trade and still 
later in the wholesale drug and ])atent medi- 
cine business. At the present time he is a 
jirosperous real estate dealer in Brooklyn, 
where he resides winters, his smnmers being 
spent in Hunter. His original residence here, 
which he built shortly after jHuchasiiig his 
property, he afterward enlarged for the accom- 
modation of summer boarders; and it was con- 
ducted by his half-brother until 1882, when it 
was destro3ed by fire. In 188^ the present 
large hotel was erected. P'or three )'ears it 
was in charge of .S. P. \'an Loan, later in that 
of Mr. Scripture, and in 189^ John H. Purtis, 
Jr., became its manager. 

John H. Pint is, .Sr. , is a Repul)lican in pol- 
itics. He was in the Assembly in 1875 and 
1876, and is quite active in the jjublic affairs 
of Pr<;oklyn. In Masonry he has advanced to 




JOHN H. BURTIS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



403 



the thirty-second degree. He has served as 
Deputy Grand Master, and belongs to the Mys- 
tic Shrine; is vice-president of the Union 
League Club, Brooklyn; and [jrcsident of 
Aurora Grata Club. 

His wife, Mary, is a daughter of James B. 
and Mary (Gardner) Thompson. Her father 
was a graduate of Yale and a well-known 
mathematician. He was the author of Thomji- 
son's Arithmetics, and has written over forty 
different volumes, known as Thompson's 
Mathematical Series, including arithmetic, 
algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. He was 
at one time principal of an academy in Nan- 
tucket, Mass. During the latter part of his 
life he made his home in New York, where he 
died at the age of eighty years. His wife, 
Mary Gardner Thompson, who is still living, 
is now seventy-five years old. Mrs. Mary 
Thompson Burtis was educated in Brooklyn 
and at a young ladies' seminary in New- 
Haven, Conn. She is president of Memorial 
Hospital, Brooklyn, and is jjrominent in char- 
itable work. She has had seven children, 
three of whom are living: Mary L. , John H., 
Jr., and Grace L. Burtis. Charles Burtis, 
M.D. , was graduated from the New York 
Ilomceopathic College, and at the time of his 
death was practising his profession in Atlanta, 
Ga. Grace L. is a student at Vassar College, 
Poughkeepsie. The parents are members of 
the Congregational church. 

John II. Burtis, Jr., began his education in 
the common schools of Brooklyn, and fitted for 
college at the Latin school. He was graduated 
from C(.)lumbia College in 1S94, with the de- 



gree of Bachelor of Arts, and subsequently 
studied law. During the summer of 1893 he 
managed the Hotel St. Charles in Hunter, and 
since i<S94 he has resided here permanently. 
This hotel, which is situated upon the highest 
elevation in the Catskill region, occupies a de- 
sirable location on what is known as Breeze 
Lawn Farm. The building is seventy-five feet 
front, one hunchx'd and si.xty-three feet deep, 
and four stories high. It has broad piazzas on 
three sides, and is equipped with all modern 
improvements, including passenger elevator 
and telegraph office. With the anne.x it 
has accommodations for two hundred guests. 
The table is supplied with fresh cream, 
butter, eggs, and vegetables from the farm 
connected with the house; and the service 
is of the best. Aside from the hotel Mr. 
Burtis manages Breeze Lawn, consisting of 
three hunilred and fifty acres. He carries on 
a dairy, and sends his surplus products to 
market. 

On October 9, 1895, Mr. liurtis married 
Zaidee I. Scribner, a native of Hunter, daugh- 
ter of Peter H. and Agnes (Merwin) Scribner. 
Her father, who at one time was engaged in 
mercantile business in Cat.skill, is at present 
residing in Palen\'ille, where he accommodates 
summer boarders. 

Mr. Scribner original!}' came from Connect- 
icut. He has had four children: Zaidee I., 
now Mrs. Burtis; George H. ; Bertha; and 
Merwin. Mr. and Mrs. Burtis are the parents 
of two children — Thompson H. and Grace 
Agnes. 

Mr. Burtis is a Republican in politics, and 



404 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Ikis been quite jiioniinent in [niblic affairs. 
lie iielongs to tlie Masonic Oidei, being a 
nicmijcr of Mount Tabor Lodge and the chap- 
ter in Windham. lie attends the Methodi.st 
Episcopal ciiurcli. 



« <•» » 




IMURY STEVENS, of Conesville, an ex- 
member of the State legislature, was 
bnin in this town, September 24, 1839, son of 
Levi l-". antl Thirza (Sage) .Stevens. His 
grandfather, Peter S. , and liis great-grand- 
father, Gcrshom Stevens, both came here from 
Fairfield, Conn., in i.S'05, Peter S. being tlien 
a young man. 

Gershom .Stesens i)ecamc tiie second owner 
of the first grist-mill in this region, and he 
operated it for a number of years. His chil- 
dren were: Levi, (iershom, Peter S., Ozias, 
and two daughters. Some years after his 
death his son Peter .S. remodelled the mill 
into a tannery. This was afterward destroyed 
by fire, and two other buildings erected upon 
the site were also burned. 

Peter S. .Stevens was tiie fatlicr of ten chil- 
dren ; namely, Levi L., Walter, Alfred, Nel- 
son, Tompkins, Tiialia A., Sally, John P". , 
t)zias D., and another son who died in in- 
fancy. I'he onl_\' one now li\ing is Tomp- 
kins, who is a well-known dealer in hides in 
New York City. 'I'halia A. married Andiew 
Rickc}', and .Sall\- married ("harles .Sturgis. 
[ohn h\, who ijecame a physician, was for five 
vears president of a medical scliool in St. 
Louis, Mo., and afterward [jractised in Hrook- 
lyn, N. v. Nelson tlied in Conesville, aged 



twent\'-four \ears. Tompkins, Alfred, and 
Walter went to .Sullivan County, and were 
instrumental in building up the town of Stev- 
ensville, where tiiey o[)erated tanneries for 
many years, being also engaged in lumbering 
and farming. The .Stevens brothers built a 
hotel in Conesville, wiiich was first opened by 
Gershom. 

Levi F. .Stevens, father of I'"mory, was in 
his )'ounger da)s interested in the tannery at 
Conesville, and for a while he kept a store. 
He succeeded to the ownership of the home- 
stead jiroperty, which was in his day a jaart of 
the original tract one mile square acquired by 
his grandfather. He was an able, energetic, 
and successfid farmer, and favorably known 
through this section of the count}'. Politi- 
cally lie was a Democrat, and held some of 
the town offices. He was an active member 
and a prominent official of the Methodist Epis- 
copal churcli, whose house of worshi]i was 
built principal!)' through the instrmnentality 
of his father and David .Sage. Levi F. 
Stevens died March 2>^, 1890, aged eighty 
years. 

His wife, Thirza, was a daughter of 
David Sage, who removed with iiis family to 
Conesville froni Connecticut. He was a de- 
scendant of David Sage, first, who was born in 
Wales in 16.19, 'i"'! coming to America was 
one of the earliest settlers in Middletown, 
Conn. Tile inniiigrant was also the ancestor 
of Russell Sage, the well-known financier. 
J'he .Sage familv. we are told, dates its origin 
from the time of the Norman conquest, its 
founder having fought on the winning side at 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



405 



the battle of Hastings. Mrs. Stevens's 
father, who was born in Connecticut, settled 
upon a tract of two hunilretl acres in that part of 
Broome which is now Conesville, and Ijecame 
a successful farmer. He was one of the 
founders of the Methodist Episcopal church at 
Strykersville. His children were: Daniel, 
Abiel, Simeon, Levi, Thirza (Mrs. Stevens), 
Polly, and Lucena. Abiel, twin brother to 
Thirza, died in Ashland, Greene County, 
N.Y. ; Daniel died in Conesville; Levi died 
while young; and Simeon, who amassed a for- 
tune in business in New York City, died in 
Windham. 

Levi F. and Thirza (Sage) Stevens had 
seven children; namely, Diantha M., David 
S. , Delphus T. , Thalia A., Emory, Ozro, and 
Daniel T. Stevens. Diantha M. died at the 
age of fifteen years; David S. , who resided in 
Gilboa, was for twenty years a Methodist 
preacher; Delphus T. , who died at the age of 
twenty-eight, was a promising young lawyer in 
Oak Hill, N. V. ; Thalia A. died at sixteen; 
Ozro died at eighteen ; antl Daniel T. died at 
twenty-three years. The mother died in Au- 
gust, 1890, aged eighty-five years. 

Emory Stevens completed his education at 
the Charlotteville Academy. He taught 
school for some time, and afterward he was 
employed as a clerk in mercantile business at 
Conesville and Gilboa. He then went to 
Iowa, where for the ne.xt few years he was en- 
gaged in various kinds of business, including 
mercantile. For some time he kept a sale 
stable in Des Moines, and while in that city he 
also speculated rather extensively in real es- 



tate. Since his return home he has devoted 
some of his time to educational work. 

In politics he is a Democrat, and while re- 
siding in Iowa was chosen a delegate to repre- 
sent Harrison County in the State Convention. 
He has served as a Supervisor in Conesville 
for three years. He also served as chairman 
of the County Canvassers' Committee, as fore- 
man of the Grand Jury, and during his term in 
the Assembly he was a member of several im- 
])(>rtant committees. Mr. .Stevens is a member 
of the Methodist church, and was for a number 
of years superintendent of the Sunday-school. 

Mr. Stevens married Emma Miller, daugh- 
ter of William Miller, of Conesville. They 
have six children; namely, Ward E. , Walter 
A., Linnie D., Ralph F., Levi F., and Susie 
E. Ward E. was graduated from the New 
York Dental College in 1897. Walter A. is 
a member of the police force. 



^OHN WESLEY GAYLORD, a repre- 
sentative citizen of Conesville, N. Y., 
was born -in this town on April 4, 
1840, son of George and Fannie (Humphrey) 
Gaylord. On the paternal side he is of Hu- 
guenot descent. His emigrant ancestors on 
leaving France settled first in England, 
whence some of the family found their way to 
this country. His great-grandfather Gaylord 
.served as an Ensign in the Continental army 
during the Revolutionary War. He was a 
man of considerable property. 

John (iaylord, son of Ensign Gaylord, was 
but a young boy at the time his father died; 



4o6 



lUOC.RArHICAL KKVIKW 



and lie was bciiinil nut to a Captain Langdon, 
of Litchfield, Conn. He ran away, however, 
at about the age of eighteen, having received 
none of his inheritance, and with one Allen 
Griffin came to Conesville, journeying by way 
of Catskill, guided by marked trees. He set- 
tled on the Sotts jxitent, now known as the 
Van Dyke farm, and built a log house to live 
in. After remaining there a few years, he re- 
moved to a farm on the stage road Ijetvveen 
Gilboa and Cairo, in Manor Kill \illage. 
Subsequentl)- he settled on the farm wdiere his 
grandson, John Wesley Gaylord, now resides. 
He became the largest land-owner of his time, 
owning from four to five hundred acres. 
When he arrived here he had only tifl}- dollars 
in his [locket. He married .Sabrina Atwood, re- 
turning to Connecticut for that purpose. She 
bore him three sons — IHram, Henry, and 
George. To each of these he gave a handsome 
property upon his coming of age. He then 
himself started afresii, ami in time accumu- 
lated as much as he had at first, so that during 
his life he owned between eight hundred and 
a thousand acres. I'ol it ically, he was a Dem- 
ocrat, and the leading member of his party 
hereabouts. In religious faith he was a Meth- 
odist. He helped to build the Methodist 
church here, and was always one of its most 
liberal supporters. He died at the age of 
seventy-eight, and his wife died latei', at aliout 
the same age. His son Hiram became a 
wealthy merchant of New Voik City. Henry, 
who removed to Catskill in i.S6,S, became a 
wealthy dealer in live stock ami wool, and later 
in real estate. He died at Catskill in Janu- 



ary, 1898, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. 
He had traxelled extensively. The fine bell 
on the church at Manor Kill was presented by 
him some four years ago at a cost of four hun- 
dred dollars. 

George Ga)!ord, father of Joiin W. , was 
born on April 28, 1S15, in Conesville, and re- 
sided here all his life, dying in 1878. He 
kept a hostelr\- for drovers, the largest in the 
State, furnishing accommodation.s one night 
for fifteen hundred cattle. Drovers came here 
from different -States, and it is said that one 
paid him ninety dollars for three tons of hay 
to feed his drove for a single night. He was 
famed far and wide for his hos]iitality and for 
his sunn}' and genial temper. Himself an ex- 
pert judge of cattle, he bought and sold many 
head. He ownetl a farm of si.x hundred acres, 
uiHin which he raised annually from fifty to' 
seventy-five tons of hay. During war time he 
kept three hundred sheep, and forty or fifty 
head of cattle. Like his father, he was a 
strong Democrat; but he was no office-seeker. 
He was marrietl on December 31, 1838. Both 
he and his wife were active and devoted mem- 
bers of the Methodist church, and gave it gen- 
erous financial support. The latter, who was 
born on August 21, 18 18, died in 1868. She 
was the mother nf four children, namely: 
John \V. ; W'dodforil, wh(} was born on January 
2, 1842; Cjeorge L. , who was born on June g, 
1846; and Ogclen, who was born on June 13, 
1849. (ieorge 1'^., who was for many years 
engaged in the cattle birsiness, is one of tiie 
laigest land-owners here. He is an influential 
man, a political leader, and has twice been 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



407 



Supervisor of the town. Ogden is in the 
meat business at Gilboa. Woodford is the 
well known ex-Sheriff. 

John Wesley Gaylord was educated in the 
district schools, at Chartlotteville Hii;'h 
School and Ashland Academ}', beint;- a stu- 
dent in the last-named institution in i860, 
when it was burned. After his marriage he 
settled on a farm of his own, where he lived 
for ten years. He then came back to take 
charge of the homestead farm. Here he now 
owns some five hundred acres. He was for- 
merly engaged to some extent in dairying and 
in growing hay. P^rom youth also he has been 
interested in buying and selling cattle, being 
an expert judge of stock. In 1868 he went on 
the road in this business, but after some years 
gave it up, only to start again in 1880 in com- 
pany with his brother George. The latter re- 
tired from the partnership in 1891, and Mr. 
J. W. Gaylord has since continued alone. In 
his early life he taught school for a time, but 
finally decided that business was much more 
congenial to him. As a cattle dealer, he has 
travelled into Canada and throughout this 
State, principally in Dutchess, Columbia, 
Green, .Schoharie, Otsego, Montgomery, Jef- 
ferson, and Delaware Counties. He also went 
into Connecticut on some of his trips. Me 
was usually absent from home three or four 
weeks at a time. Like his father, he is noted 
among all who know him for his genial hospi- 
tality. He is popular in his own town; and it 
is said that, if he takes a subscription paper 
among the people for any purpose whatever, he 
is sure to fill it with names. No faniilv in 



the community has done more for the church 
of the town than the Gaylord family. Mr. 
John W. Gaylord in this respect has not been 
behind his father and grandfather in generosity 
and in the sup]3ort of every good movement. 
In politics he is a Democrat. 

At twenty-three Mr. Gaylord was united in 
marriage with Mary K. Porter, daughter of 
a Scotch family. Mrs. Gaylord died on De- 
cember 17, 1897, having been the mother of 
three children. Of these, John H. died in in- 
fancy; and George Porter died on December 
14, 1889, at the age of twenty-three. Fannie 
M., the only daughter, resides with her father. 
She attended the Albany Normal .School, and 
subsecpiently taught school until her marriage 
with Coral E. Rictchmyer. .She has one 
child, Mabel G. George Porter Gaylord was 
a young man of great promise. In his youth 
he attended a select school in 15roome Centre, 
and then took a course in the Albany Busi- 
ness College. He was nearly qualified to take 
his degree of Doctor of Medicine at the Uni- 
versity of the City of New York when he be- 
came ill. He was naturally a devoted student, 
and his close confinement to his books had un- 
dermined his health. He was a Mason of Gil- 
boa 'Lodge, and remarkably well informed on 
Masonic historv for one of his age. 



<^»^» 




yy. GARDINER COFFIN, cashier of 
the Catskill National Bank of Cats- 
■ kill and Supervisor of the town of 
Catskill, is a native of this village, and 
was born on August 10, 1859, his parents 



4o8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



being Uriah H. and Elizabeth J. (Surfieet) 
Coffin. 

The family of which he is a representative 
has existed for many -generations in England. 
Tristram Coffin, the founder of the American 
branch, was the son of Peter and Joan (Them- 
ber or Thumber) Coffin, of Bri.xton, Devon- 
shire, and a grandson of Nicholas Coffin of 
that place, who died in 1613. Tristram 
Coffin, born probably at Brixton, about 1605, 
married Dionis Stevens. He came to New 
Englanil with liis widowed mother and his 
family in 1642. After residing successively 
in Haverhill, Newbury, and Salisbury, he 
finally, about 1660, settled at Nantucket, 
where he died in 168 1, and where some of his 
descendants live at this day. Mr. Coffin has 
in his possession a copy of the commission, 
dated June 29, 1671, granted by F"rancis 
Lovelace, Governor of New York, to Tristram 
Coffin to be chief magistrate over the islands 
of Nantucket and Tuckernuck. 

Mr. Coffin's grandfather, Peter G. Coffin, 
was l)orn in Hudson, N.Y., on July 30, 1794. 
For many years he owned and ran boats be- 
tween Catskill and Albany. He died on De- 
cember 5, 1858. He was three times mar- 
ried. His second wife, the grandmother of 
P. Gardiner Coffin, was before her marriage 
Lucy O. Green. She was born in Athens, 
N.Y. , on November i, 1793, ami died there 
on February 7, 1834, having been the mother 
of only one child, Uriah H. Both she and 
her husband were Episcopalians. 

Uriah H. Coffin was born on May 30, 1831. 
He was brought up in Athens, Greene County, 



N.Y., removed to Catskill, and engaged 
in grocery business there. He was captain 
for a time of the "P. G. Coffin" that ran be- 
tween Albany and Catskill, and later he ran 
on the boats plying between New York and 
Catskill. After being engaged in the boating 
business for some years, he removed to White- 
hall, N.Y. He enlisted during the Civil 
War, was commissioned as Captain of a com- 
pany in the One Hundred and Twentieth Regi- 
ment, and remained in the service until the 
close of the war, being Quartermaster of the 
regiment, on the staff of Colonel George H. 
Sharp. Some time after being mustered out, 
he received an appointment in the post-office 
in New York City, and is now in charge of 
the record ilepartment of the registration 
office. In |)olitics he is a Republican. His 
first wife, the mother of P. Gardiner Coffin, 
died at the age of thirty-five, having borne 
him three children. Of these the living are: 
Charles G. , who is in the insurance business 
in this town; and P. Gartliner. The second 
wife was before her marriage Emma Johnson. 
She was born in Whitehall, N.Y. She is the 
mother of two sons now living — -Artinir and 
Robert Coffin. 

P. Gardiner Coffin lost his motiier when lie 
was an infant. He was born and brought up 
in Catskill, and has been a resident of tiiis 
village all his life. In 1876 he was appointed 
Deputy Postmaster of the town; and, after 
filling that office in a most creditable manner 
for six years, he entered the Catskill National 
Bank as a general clerk. In a siiort time he 
was a)i|iointed teller, in 1SS9 he was made 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



409 



assistant cashier, and in 1S96 was promoted to 
his present position of cashier, being also a 
member of the board of directors. This bank 
was organized in 1812, and is one of the old- 
est banks, not only in the State, but in the 
United States, and has a proud history. A 
sketch of Mr. Coffin appears on page 552, and 
his portrait on page igi, of the work recently 
issued, entitled "Prominent Bankers of 
America." 

From 1885 to 1891 Mr. Coffin was inter- 
ested with his brother in conducting a large 
general insurance business. In 1888 he 
helped to organize the Catskill Building and 
Loan Association, and he has since been its 
treasurer and one of its directors. For twelve 
years he was treasurer of Catskill village. In 
politics he is a Republican. He was elected 
Supervisor of the town in 1896, and again in 
1898 to serve one year; but by a change in 
the law he will continue in office until 1900. 
In 1898 he served as chairman of the board. 
For many years he was a leading member of 
the Republican county committee, and he was 
its chairman for a year. His activity in pro- 
moting the best interests of the village has 
been unceasing, and his townsmen award him 
due credit for his disinterested efforts. He 
is well known in both town and county, and 
highly respected. 

Mr. Coffin was married on November 9, 
1887, to Ida Brown, who was born in Peta- 
luma, Cal. Her father, Captain John Brown, 
formerly interested in the boating business on 
the Hudson and a resident of Catskill, now 
resides in California. He removed to that 



State in 1S49, and was for many years with 
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as 
master mariner in their steamboat service be- 
tween San Francisco and Oakland. He has 
now retired from business. Mrs. Coffin fre- 
quently visits her family in California. She 
has made the overland journey eight times, 
Mr. Coffin accompanying her once. In 1S83 
she and her mother were in the railway dis- 
aster at Tehachepi, Southern California, where 
eleven out of twenty-three persons in one car 
were killed.. In this accident Mrs. Coffin 
sustained injuries which kept her in the hos- 
pital for several months, and the injuries of 
her mother were of such a serious character 
that she never fully recovered from their 
effects. Mrs. Brown is now deceased. She 
was a woman of unusual literary attainments, 
ana was the author of a work on botany. It 
was through her efforts that the library in 
Alameda, Cal., was established. Her maiden 
name was Helen Walter. She was born in 
Catskill, daughter of William Walter, for 
many years a leading merchant here. For a 
time she lived in the family of Captain Hugh 
Taylor. Mrs. Coffin is the only daughter in 
a family of four children. Her eldest brother 
Thomas is manager of the Western Union 
Telegraph at Reno, Nev. William Brown, 
second brother, is travelling freight and pas- 
senger agent of the Great Northern Railroad 
Company of California. George W. Brown, 
another brother, is in the Wells & Fargo Ex- 
press Company 

Mr. and Mrs. Coffin have three children — ■ 
Charles G., Robert E., and Helen M. Mr, 



4IO 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Coffin is a member of Catskill Lodge of 
Masons, and chairman of P^inance Committee. 
He has held membership in the Dutch Re- 
formed church for many years. 




<:.\NKI.1N CI.AI'IM'.K, the well-kiinwn 
(5 merchant of Mackey'-s Corners, Gilboa, 
N.Y., is a native of this town. He was born 
on May 4, 1S63, and is the only sun of Philip 
and ]-5etsy (Robinson) Clapper. The family 
is known to be of German descent, and it is 
believed that Mr. Clapper's L;reat-i;reat-L;rand- 
fatiier was its first rejiresentatixe in America. 

His great-j;ran(lfather, Henr)- P. Clajiper, 
came to Gilboa frcjm Coeymans, this .State, 
about I Si 5, and settled in the imrth ])art of 
the town, then in Broome. He took up a tract 
of about a hunihed and forty acres of wild land, 
and built first a l(jg cabin and later a frame 
house. He felled the first trees, and did all 
the clearing. Tliis farm is still ownetl by one 
of the famih', a t;randson of the pioneer. 
Henry P. Clapper tlied on the faini in 1849, 
at the age of eight\'. His wife, whom he had 
married in Coeymans, died some years before 
he ditl. They had three sons — Sylvester, 
Silas, anil George; and fom- daughters — 
.Sarah, Peggy, Polly, and Harriet. George 
resided at the homestead. .Silas settled in 
anothei" part of the town. 

Sylvester Clapper, gramlfather of p'ranklin, 
was born in Coeymans in 1802, and died in 
.Se]itember, 1884. He came to Gilboa with 
his parents when about thirteen years of age, 
and in time setlletl upon a [lorticai of the home- 



stead farm, where he s])ent the remainder of 
his life. He acquired some two hundred acres 
of lanil. In religion he was a Baptist of the 
old school. Politicalh', he was a strong Dem- 
ocrat, and a leader in his part\' in this \ icin- 
ity, though he never sought office for himself. 
.\s a business man, he was shrewd and far-see- 
ing. His judgment was much deferred to by 
his fellow-citizens. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Louisa Ryder, was lioin in 1807, 
and died in i.S'91. Her ancestors were of Ger- 
man descent, and came here from Columbia 
Count\-. The children of S\'l\ester Clapper 
were: Philip, Henry, John, and George M. 
John, who remained on the homestead farm, 
died in 1885. George M went to Michigan 
in 1883. Henry B. is a \erv prosperous 
farmer in Albany Count}'. He is married, 
and has four children. Syh'cster Clapper was 
interested in the turnpike road between North 
Blenheim and Potter's Hollow, and together 
with Mr. Tibbits was instrumental in securing 
the legislation under which it was built. 

Philil5 Clapper, above named, was educated 
in the public schools, and subsequently taught 
school for a number of terms. He has contin- 
ued to be a student throughout his life, and 
has been much looked to by his neighbors and 
ac(|uaintances for information on doubtful 
points under discussion. In politics he is a 
Democrat. His first faiin consisted of one 
hundred acres, all tillable land. Later he be- 
came the owner of the homestead property, 
where he has resided since 1863, in his active 
years dexoting his energies to general farming, 
giving special attention to dairying. His 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



411 



wife, whose maiden name was Betsy Robinson, 
is tlie daughter of John D. Robinson, whose 
ancestors were of Scotch-English descent, emi- 
grants from Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. 
Philip Clapper have one son, Franklin, whose 
personal history is given below, and a daugh- 
ter Emmaline, who was married in December, 
1894, to Edgar Ilulbert, of North Blenheim. 

Franklin Clapper was educated in the pub- 
lic schools and in a select school, receiving 
more than ordinarily good advantages. Then 
for some time he taught school during the win- 
ter terms in the towns of Gilboa, Blenheim, 
Breakabeen, and l'\dton, and engaged in farm- 
ing during the summers. As a teacher he met 
with great success, and in Breakabeen he had 
a school of seventy ini|)ils. Deciding to go 
into mercantile business, he bought out his 
present stand in March, 1892, and since then 
has devoted himself exclusively to building- 
up a trade. Although he had no jirevious ex- 
perience as a tradesman to guide him, he has 
prospered even beyond his expectations. He 
carries at the present time thrice the stock 
that he carried at the outset, having enlarged 
his line of drugs, groceries, dry goods, hard- 
ware, and farm tools. He sends goods over 
a radius of four or five miles. 

Since 1893 Mr. Clapper has been the vil- 
lage Postmaster. His management ha\'ing 
proved satisfactory to both parties, no candi- 
date has been put forth to oppose him. Fie is 
also serving on his third term as Notary Pub- 
lic. Mr. Clapper has often been delegate to 
both local and county conventions. Repeat- 
edly importuned to accept the nomination for 



public office, he has declined, thcnigh he never 
loses an opportunity to work for the good of 
his party and of the community. He was in- 
strimiental in the construction of a telephone 
line to Mackey's Corners, thereby giving to 
the citizens of that little hamlet direct and 
rapid communication with the county seat and 
other parts of the count)'. He is a Mason of 
Gilboa Lodge, No. 630, of which he has been 
Junior Deacon, and is warmly interested in 
the ancient craft. When he juineil in 1887, 
he was the youngest man in the lodge. 

Mr. Clapper was married on April 21, 1897, 
to Harriet E. VVykoff, who is the eldest of the 
five children of George M. VVykoff. Mrs. 
Clapper was a successful student in the One- 
onta Normal School, and previ(jus to her mar- 
riage she taught school. Mr. Clapper has 
been a member of the Baptist choir for five or 
si.x years, and at the present time his wife is 
also a member. Both are popular in social 
circles, and have every outlook for a prosper- 
ous future. 




ONVAS E. MARKHAM, of Fulton, 
I teacher and farmer, well known in 
-Schoharie County as Professor 
Markham, was boin in this town, August 10, 
1843, son of Alden, Jr., arrd Catherine (Cook) 
Markham. Through his father he traces his 
ancestry (by what line we ha\e not been in- 
formed) to John Aldcn of the "Mayflower" 
company of Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth. 
Professor Markham's paternal grandparents, 
Alden Markham, .Sr. , and Elizabeth Pease 



412 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Markham, were born, bred, and married in the 
State of Connecticut. Soon after their mar- 
riage they migrated westward to Otsego 
County, New Yori<, where, in the town of 
Worcester, the grandfather took up a tract of 
forest-covered land, from which he cleared the 
timber and improved a homestead. He became 
actively identified with the interests of the 
town, and, while establishing a home for him- 
self and family, also assisted in developing the 
resources of that section of the State. He was 
among the leading farmers of the community, 
and for many years served as Justice of the 
Peace. He lived there until well advanced in 
years, and then went to Massachusetts, where 
he died at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, 
who bore him .seven children, also lived to a 
ripe old age. lioth were Baptists in their re- 
ligious beliefs. 

Alden Markham, Jr., was born and educated 
in Otsego County; and, having been reared to 
agricultural pursuits, he followed farming for 
some years. He also taught during the winter 
terms in Otsego County for a while, and later 
on for a few terms in Richniondville, Scho- 
harie County. In 1838, or soon after, he ac- 
cepted a position in the public schools of Ful- 
ton; and, being pleased with this localit}-, he 
.subsequently invested his money here in a 
farm, and resumed life as an agriculturist. A 
few years afterward he removed to Massachu- 
setts, where he spent his remaining days, pass- 
ing away at the age of forty-nine years. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Catherine D. 
Cook, was born in the western part of Fulton, 
being a daughter of Nathaniel Cook, an exten- 



sive farmer, who spent his life of threescore 
and ten years in this town. Mrs. Markham 
died at the early age of thirty-nine years, hav 
ing borne her husband five children. Four of 
this family are now living, namely: Convas 
K. ; Asher ; Luther O. , who for a quarter of a 
century has been Superintendent of Schools at 
Haverstraw-, New York. ; and Elizabeth, wife 
of E. \V. Haverly. Both parents were persons 
of eminent pietv, and active members of the 
Baptist church. 

Convas E. Markham began teaching in the 
district schools when but sixteen years old. 
He afterward took a full course of stud}' at 
the Schoharie Academy, and still further fitted 
himself for a teacher by attending the Albany 
Normal School, from which he was graduated 
in 1869. He has since taught in \-arious 
towns, including b'ulton, where he commenced 
his career, Gallu[nille, in wdiose schools he 
was employed twelve consecutive years, and 
Esperance. He also taught se\eral years in 
Piermont and Haverstraw, Rockland County. 
Since his marriage he has resided on his farm 
of one hundred acres in I-'nlton, and, in addi- 
tion to his professional laljors in this \'icinity, 
has been prosperously engaged in general farm- 
ing and dairying. He is one of the oldest and 
best known teachers of the county. 

Mr. Markham married Carrie Louden, of 
l-"ulto]i, a graduate of the Normal School, and 
for some years prior to her marriage a teacher 
in the public schools. She was born in Ful- 
ton, being a daughter of Stephen Louden, of 
whom a biographical sketch ap]:)ears elsewhere 
in this volume. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



413 




RANK H. FRANCE, a native of Sew- 
ard, now residing in the village of 
Cobleskill, was born on March ji, 1859, ^o" o^ 
Gilbert G. and Angeline (Ottman) France. 
He is a great-grandson of Sebastian Frantz, 
one of the pioneers of Schoharie County. 

Sebastian Frantz came from Germany in 
1752, shortl)' after his marriage with Anna 
Fritz. He was born in Wurtemberg, in the 
year 1732, and his wife was born in the same 
place in the year following. They were Luth- 
erans, and, with three others of that persua- 
sion, left their native land in order to secure 
greater freedom of worship. The little party 
landed in New York in November, 1753. 
Sebastian was sent ahead to prospect for a 
place in which to settle, and he eventually 
chose a location in this county in what is now 
the town of Seward. 

He was a man of deep piety and great relig- 
ious zeal, and his unflinching boldness in de- 
fence of his faith has borne fruit in the lives 
of his descendants. He brought with him 
from the Fatherland his German family Bible, 
the first Bible ever brought into the town of 
Seward, and this is now in the possession of 
the heirs of his grandson, the late Gilbert G. 
France. Seven tedious years were spent in 
clearing the land and making it capable of pro 
ducing harvests, and at the end of that time 
the desire of the immigrant's heart was ful- 
filled in the erection, at what was called New 
Rhinebeck, of a Lutheran church. The struc- 
ture was a frame building, and was the second 
house (if worship reared in the town. The 
society was presided over by the Rev. Peter 



Nicholas Sommer, a travelling Lutheran 
preacher, who preached also to the Methodist 
congregation in the other church, which was 
located at Seward Centre. 

The children of Sebastian Frantz numbered 
twelve, and were named as follows : Anna, 
Ernest Christopher, Eva, Elizabeth, Jacob, 
Margaretta, John, Catherine, Henry, Lena, 
Lawrence, and David. At the outbreak of the 
Revolution, the two elder sons, Christopher and 
Jacob, enlisted as soldiers, and were quartered 
with their company in the Schoharie Valley. 
On October 18, while Sebastian was away 
from home dtiing government service, his home 
was entered by an Lidian chief who was in the 
employ of the British; two of the sons, John 
and Henry, were taken captive; and the barns 
and out-buildings were burned. Thus in a 
moment were destroyed the results of years of 
earnest toil. 

Mrs. Anna Frantz, with her ten remaining 
children fled to Gravel Mountain, where she 
secreted herself for three days, not daring to 
make a fire for fear that her hiding place might 
be revealed. John, one of the captured sons, 
was scalped and murdered, but Henry fortu- 
nately escaped. On the same day, the young 
woman who was to have been the bride of 
Christopher in two weeks, was murdered. A 
pair of silver shoe buckles, her wedding gift 
from her lover, is still in the possession of her 
family. After the war -Sebastian Frantz re- 
paired and re-established his home, and subse- 
quently remained thei'e until his death in 
1805. His wife surviveil him ele\en years. 
Both were buried on the home farm, but in 



414 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



i8gi the remains were disinterred by Gilbert 
G. France and were removed to the Ziun Rural 
Cemetery at Sewnrd Centre. 

The descendants of this \viirtli\- pair now mn- 
stitute a considerable jwrtion of the popula- 
tion of Schoharie, and members of the fourth 
and fifth generations have become residents in 
other parts of the State. Henry I'rantz, w^ho 
escaped from the liulians, spent his early life 
on the homestead, ant! later bout;ht a farm near 
bv, wlicrc he lived until his death, at the age 
of eighty-eight. He was a most active Chris- 
tian, and both he and his good wife were mem- 
bers of the Methodist church. Her maiden 
name was Maria Horn. She was born in Al- 
bany, the daughter of Joseph lloin, a promi- 
nent clothier of that place. She had one 
sister, Margaret, who married Uavid Frantz. 

Of the fifteen children of Henry Frantz, 
fourteen grew to maturity, and thirteen were 
married and had children. 'I'herc were eleven 
sons, and of these se\-en became class leaders 
in the Methodist cluuch, and of the seven two 
became preachers, (iilbert G. !•" ranee was the 
latest survivor of this large family. He had 
at one time a hundred cousins, but all, with 
one exception, are now deceased. 

Gilbert G. France was born on tlie home- 
stead on December 25, 1816, the youngest 
child of his parent.s. He remained at home 
until the age of seventeen, attending school 
and assisting on the farm. Then he learned 
the trade of tanner and currier. Subsequently 
he went with his wife and children to Wiscon- 
sin, and in companv with three others took up 
some government land, and founded and named 



the town of .Sharon. His title deed to this, 
signed by President I'olk, is still in the pos- 
session of his family. After remaining there 
for seven years, he returned liast and traded 
his land for a farm in Kichmondville, where he 
lived for five years. In 1S56 he came to his 
farm in .Seward, and from that time devoted 
himself to general farming, hop-raising, and 
dair3'ing. He had at one period a hundred aiul 
forty acres, but later he cultivated about si.xty 
acres, having also some outlying lands. He 
built the farm buildings, as well as another 
house and a store in the town, and several 
dwelling-houses. During the last forty years 
of his life he was a leader in every advanced 
movement. He was one of the earl\- pro- 
moters of the railroad which runs to Cherr)' 
X'alle}', twenty-fi\e miles from Cobleskill, be- 
ginning to agitate the subject in 1.S67 in com- 
pany with Judge Campbell and Judge Bates. 
Upon being a]ipoiuted one of the commis- 
sioners, along with .Abraham .Sternberg and 
Leonard Wilaiid, he was able to make arrange- 
ments for bonding the town for twenty-five 
thousand dollars. He was Railroad Commis- 
sioner for fifteen years. 

Gilbert G. !•" ranee was married in i S40, his 
wife being the daughter of Christian Ottman, 
and a native of this region. She dietl at the 
age of si.\ty-tw(), having been the mother of 
seven children. Of these, six are living; 
namely, Augusta, Anna, Helen, Millaiil I'il- 
more, hhi, and I-'rank H. Augusta mail led 
Peter Haines, a farmer in the \-.illey, aiul has 
one child, X'ergil liy name. Anna, who mar- 
ried Haniuiil .Strail, has two children — Grace 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



415 



and Gilbert. Helen married David l^erger, 
who was killed jjy a stroke of lightnini,''. She 
has two children — Ina and Arthur. Millard 
F. , who always resided with his father, mar- 
ried Mary Ikown, and has one child, Leland. 
Ida is the wife of David Emerick, a travelling 
salesman in Western New York, and is the 
mother of two children — liertlia and Grace. 

Gilbert G. France was actively interested in 
jDolitics prior to the Civil War, and served a.s 
Collector and as Overseer of the Poor. So far 
as possible he refused public offices. He was 
a charter member of the Grange, and was 
one of its lecturers. lie was ardently in favor 
of prohibition, and was a delegate to the State 
convention at Syracuse for the Prohibition 
party. On the occasion of the centennial 
celebration of the anniversary of the town, he 
was the president of the da\', and had full 
charge of affairs. I"or fifty-eight years he was 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and fifty-six years a church officer. Thirty- 
three years he was a class leader, and twenty 
years superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
The beautiful grove fitted up by him is largely 
used for Sunda)'-school gatherings. At the 
time of his death, which occurred on April 5, 
1898, he was the oldest member of the charge, 
which includes Hyndsville, Seward Valley, and 
Seward Centre, and was probably the oldest 
church official in the State. 

Frank H. France is by trade a carpenter and 
cabinet-maker. Since the ileath of his father 
he has purchased village property in Coble- 
skill, where he now resides. He has charge 
of his father's farm, and is doing a prosperous 



busines.s. He married Carrie M. Ireland, 
daughter of Daniel Ireland, of Albany, and 
she has borne him four children, as follows: 
Lulu A., Gilbert D., Daniel D. , and Mel- 
ville D. 




DGAR JACKSON,* attorney and coun- 
cilor at law, North Blenheim, 
Schoharie County, N. V. , was born in the town 
of Gilboa, this county, August 28, 1853, a 
son of ]ubn I. Jackson. His grandfather, 
David Jackson, was an early settler of Gilboa, 
where he bought a large tract of land, and for 
many years was one of its most successful 
farmers and the Justice of the Peace. To him 
and his wife, Peggy, three children were born. 
John I. Jackson, who was brought up on a 
farm, and received his education in the com- 
mon schools, followed agricultural pursuits in 
his early manhood, and after marriage pur- 
cha.sed a farm not far from the site of the pres- 
ent post-office in Mackey. Taking up the 
study of law, he pursued it diligently, and, 
after his admission to the bar, in 1855, prac- 
tised his profession in Gilboa for nearly forty 
years, and achieved considerable fame as a 
lawyer of sound judgment and superior knowl- 
edge. He was a Republican in politics, prom 
inent in town matters, and served as Super- 
visor. He married Mary A. Moore, a native 
of (iilboa. She was a daughter of Samuel 
Moore, who came of pioneer stock. She died 
at the age of sixty-four years, March 31, 1879, 
leaving six children, namely: Rhoda, de- 
ceased; William M., a farmer in Iowa; Lu- 



4i6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



cinda, deceased; Oscar D. , a farmer; Edgar, 
the special subject of this biography ; and 
Luther. Both parents were members of the 
Baptist church ; and the father was for many 
years a memlx-r of (iilboa Lodge, F. & A. IVL 
lie died on October 23, 1893, at tlie age of 
fourscore years. 

Edgar Jackson acquired the rudiments of his 
education in the public schools of Gilboa, and 
afterward continued his studies at the Dela- 
ware Literary Institute. He subsequently en- 
gaged in mechanical pursuits for a while, and 
then turned his attention to the study of law, 
which he pursued to such good [nnpose that in 
1 886 he was admitted to practice in the differ- 
ent courts by Judson S. Lawdon and Augustus 
Bakes, Judges of the Supreme Court at Albany. 
The following two years lie jiractised with his 
father in Gilboa, whence, in 18S8, he came to 
North Blenheim, where he has built up a large 
and lucrative general practice, being employed 
in the Justice, Surrogate, County, and Su- 
preme Courts. In 1S94 he built his ])resent 
commodious office, which is central!)- located. 
While living in Gilboa he served as Justice of 
the Peace some years and as Town Trustee. 
Since coming here he has been Commissioner 
of Highways. Politically, Mr. Jackson is a 
straightfoiward Rcpulilican ; and, frateinally, 
he is a member ol (iilboa Lodge, V. & A. M. 

Mr. Jackson married in 1873. 1 1 is wife's 
mother, whose maiden name was .Sally E. 
James, is still living, and has two children: 
Mrs. Jackson; and Orville A., of Chenango 
Comity. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have one 
child, II. Warren. Mr. Jackson is a memljer 



of the ]?aptist church, while Mrs. Jackson be- 
longs to the Methodist Episcopal church. 



sTlAMES K. ALVERSON,* who has been 

identified with the educational interests 
of Schoharie County, New York, as 
school teacher and School Commissioner for 
the past three decades, resides in Middleburg, 
where he built his present residence in 1883. 
He was born February 21, 1845, in Berne, Al- 
bany County, a son of Leonard Alverson. His 
grandfather, Lsaac Alverson, formerly a black- 
smith in the city of Albany, was killed in one 
of the battles of the War of 18 12, while in the 
prime of manhood. 

Leonard Alverson was reared on a farm in 
Duanesburg, N. Y. He learned the black- 
smith's trade, which he subsequently followetl 
in Berne, not far from Hunter's Land. In 
Berne he afterward settled on a farm, and also 
carried on a grocery store and conducted a 
hotel, being very popular as a lantlloril. In 
]jolitics he was a sound Democrat. He servetl 
as Assessor of Berne and as Supervisor, and 
for a number of years he was a Deacon of the 
Christian church. He subsequently [nir- 
chascd a farm in Hunter's Land, on which he 
engaged in agricultural pursuits until his 
death, at the age of si.xty-five years. He mar- 
ried Elizabeth Cutter, or, as she was familiarh- 
known in her girlhood, Betsey Wilbur, who 
was born in Duanesburg, a daughter of Esquire 
Wilbur. Her father was a well-to-do farmer 
and an exjiert fox huntei-. He reared four 
chiUlren, namely: Sarah, wife of .Setli Owens; 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



417 



William B. ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Alversoii, de- 
ceased ; and Joseph W. 

James K. Aiverson attended the common 
schools of his district until he was fourteen 
years old, and then began earning his own li\'- 
ing by \vorking out by the month, being thus 
employed until the breaking out of the Civil 
War. At the age of eighteen he enlisted 
in Company M, Seventh New York Artil- 
lery, with which he served eighteen months. 
He participated in the battles of Spottsyl- 
vania, Anna River, and Cold Harbor, where 
he was twice wounded by minie-balls, once 
in the right forearm and once in the left 
thigh. He was taken to the hospital, from 
which he was discharged as a private at the 
end of eight months. Returning home, he 
commenced his career as a teacher, being- 
employed in 1865 and 1866 in Berne. After- 
ward he was principal of schools in the 
village of Schoharie, in IMiddleburg, and 
Wright, and in other places in Schoharie and 
Albany Counties, for a continuous period of 
twenty years. In 1888 Mr. Aiverson was 
elected School Commissioner of the First Dis- 
trict of Schoharie County for a term of three 
years, and in 1894 was again elected to the 
same responsible position, and ser\ed until 
1897. As School Commissioner he had to 
examine the one hundred and twelve teachers 
employed in the ninety-eight schools under his 
immediate supervision, and personally visit 
each school in the eight towns composing his 
tlistrict. Since the exiiiration of his last term 
in this capacity, he has resumed his foimer 
occupation as a teacher, and is now one of the 



oldest instructors in this part of the county and 
one of the most successful. He was formerly 
a member of the Schoharie County Teachers' 
Association, anil while a Commissioner of the 
l^'irst District he built many new school- 
houses. He is a Democrat in politics, and was 
twice elected Collector of the town of Berne. 
Fraternally, he is a member of the Moses 
Tompkins Post, No. 149, G. A. R., in which 
he has served as Officer of the Day and been 
Commander, and belongs also to the Miildle- 
burg Lodge, Le Bastelle, I. O. O. F. , in which 
he has passed all the chairs, and is now Past 
Noble Grand. He and his family attend the 
Lutheran church. 

In 1S76 Mr. Aiverson married Miss Rhoda 
Shoemaker, a daughter of Abraham and Phebe 
(Layman) Shoemaker. Her parents spent 
their later years of life in Middleburg, where 
her mother is still living at the age of seventy- 
five years. Mr. and Mrs. Aiverson have three 
children; namely, Leonard A., W. Layman, 
and Otis Ray. 



T^HARLES E. BARRUP,* Postmaster 
I J| of Esperance, Schoharie County, N.Y. , 

^ ' was born August 12, 1855, in Car- 
lisle, this county. His paternal grandfather 
was a veteran of the War of 181 2, and was at- 
tached to the staff of General Jackson. 

Charles PI Barruj) received his education in 
the district schools, which he attended until 
reaching the age of sixteen years, when he 
found employment and became self-supporting. 
In 18S4 he opened a harness shop in Espe- 



4i8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



rancc, and he has since conducted the business 
very successfully up to the present time. Mi', 
liarrup has taken a prominent part in town 
affairs. lie lias twice been elected Town 
Clerk, and he lias been a member of the 
County Committee. lie is an active Demo- 
cratic worker, and has dnnc much to advance 
the cause of his jxirty locall)-. lie is a mem- 
ber of Schoharie Lodge, F. & A. M. 

In 1879 Mr. J3arrLip was united in marriage 
with Miss Sarah Reed, daughter of Henry 
Reed, of Esperance. Mr. Harrup's mother is 
a descendant of the family of Shafers that 
fij;in'ed largely in the earliei' history of .Scho- 
harie County. Her grandfather and her great- 
graiulfathei' were [iromincnt in the constiuc- 
tiiin of the Lutheran church of Cobleskill, 
which some .six years ago celebrated its cen- 
tenn ial. 



AMKS L. UTTLR,* the leading farmer 
of Oak Hill, Uurhani, and owner, on a 
large scale, of Western real estate, was 
born at ()ak Hill, on the spot where he now 
resides, on May 20, i S46, sou ni Isaac and 
Mary A. (Niles) lUter. The farm of which 
he is now the owner has been in his famih' for 
three generations, his great-grandfather, James 
Utter, a Re\'oluti<inary soldier, having settled 
here when the country around was a wilderness. 
He came here with his wife and son James 
from Saybrook, Conn., in the spring of 1783, 
and built a log cabin. Some years later, 
after he had cleared some land, he built a 
fraiiK' house, which stood until 1894, when it 
was burned. 



The .second James Utter was born in Sav- 
brook,Conn., and came here with his mother 
on horseback. He was brought up on the 
farm, and in 1806 he built a house for himself 
where his grandson's house is now standing. 
He kei)t increasing his farm by bu)-ing adjoin- 
ing land, and becaiiH' a \'ery pros|ierous man. 
In Januai')-, 1837, when he was only fift}-si\ 
years old, he slipped on the ice and broke his 
hi].i, and on the igth of the month died tioin 
the effects. His wife, to whom he was mar- 
ried on No\emher 26, 1805, bore him si.\ 
children, none of whom are now lixing. Her 
maiden name was j'^li/abeth Post. .She was a 
Presbyterian, and her husband was a l^aptist. 

Isaac Utter, abo\'e nameti, son of James, 
second, and l'',li/.al)eth, was born on I_)eceml)er 
19, 1808, ami died on his si.\ty-fourth birth 
da\-. He alwa\s li\ed on the homestead, with 
the exception of four )ears which he sjient 
elsewhere. He was interested in real estate 
in the West, particul.irh- in Wisconsin, where 
he owned considerable land and held farms on 
mortgages. Politically, he was a Republican. 

He was a liberal contiiluitor to the Metli- 
odist church, of which both he and his wife 
were members; and for man\- years he was one 
of its most honored trustees. He took a |irom- 
inent part in public affairs in the town, and 
was one of its Siiijervisors from the time of its 
incorporation. His wife, who was one of a 
family of ten children, w.is a daughter of Sam- 
uel Niles, wdio moved to Oak Hill when she 
was a young girl, and spent the remainder of 
his life here. Mrs. Utter resides with her son 
James, wlio is her only child. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



419 



Mr. James letter's house, whieh is one of 
the finest in the county, was built by his 
father and himself and under their daily 
supervision. It was built entirely by the day, 
and is of the best possible workmanship. The 
son furnished the plans and gave suggestions 
for interior decorating and finishing. The 
decorations were made from exclusive designs, 
and are really works of art. There are twenty 
large and full)' furnished rooms, some of them 
measuring fourteen by fifteen feet. 

Mr. Utter was educated in the common 
schools, Greenville Academy, and a select 
school in Durham. After his father's death 
he then became ]Moprietor of the homestead 
estate, which consisted of a himclred and ten 
acres. Since then he has bought some forty 
acres adjoining and eighty more on the moun- 
tain. He keeps seven horses and twenty-three 
head of cattle of Jersey stock, and makes butter 
for the New York markets. He cuts a large 
amount of ha}', the annual crop sometimes 
reaching eighty tons; and, though he has Ijuilt 
two new barns recently, he is still often 
obliged to stack some of it out of doors. He 
keeps two men employed the year through. 
Mr. Utter is a proficient carpenter himself, 
and has built a number of the buiklings on his 
place, though others he hired built. His 
tenant house, near his own residence, is an 
example of his own workmanship. 

In 18S3 Mr. Utter went into the enterprise 
of buying land in the West, and he has 
continued to buy until he now has about seven 
thousand acres there. Of this he tills some 
si.\' hundred acres, raising large crops of corn. 



wheat, and oats. h) looking after his inter- 
ests he has made many trips West, particu- 
larly to Dakota and Michigan, where his land 
is situated. He is one of the directors in the 
North American Loan and Trust Company of 
New York City, which has a paid-up capital 
of over half a million and a surplus fund of a 
hundretl thousand dollars. 

Mr. Utter married in 187 1 Dora Kelsey, 
only child of Hiram Kelsey, a leading farmer 
of Albany County. Although he is an ardent 
Republican and takes active part in all politi- 
cal matters, attending State and county con- 
ventions as delegate, he refuses to accept pub- 
lic office. He is a member of the Methodist 
church, while Mrs. Utter is a Baptist. For 
many years he has been a church trustee. 
Mr. Utter is a hard worker, and everything 
about his place is kept in the best of repair. 
He is one of the best known men in the 
comity. 



2)yENRY C. GETTER,* of Middleburg, 
N.Y., one of the leading lawyers of 
Schoharie County, was born on 
June 16, 1857. His father, David Getter, 
was born in Schoharie. His grandfather 
Getter, who was a native of Germany, came to 
this country when a boy, and settled at Central 
Bridge, Schoharie. He was an e.xpert handi- 
craftsman, and followed the trades of gunsmith 
and clock-maker. A large number of clocks 
made by him are still in running order. He 
lived to be ninety-eight years of age, and his 
mental faculties were well preserved to the 



420 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



last. Mis wife attained the age of ninety- 
three. 

David Getter ^lew to manhood at Central 
Bridge, where he was i^orn, and in liis youth 
learned the trade of blacksmith. Coming to 
Middleburg when he was of age, he set up his 
forge, and, starting in business for himself, 
continued actively engaged over fifty years. 
For a long ])eriod his was the onl\' smithy in 
the town. Me was an abolitionist and a Re- 
l)uljliean in politics. His vote was the only 
one cast for Fremont in his district, and four 
years later he was one of three to vote for 
Abraham Lincoln. A reader and a thinker, 
he was highly respected as a man of sterling 
integrity and sound judgment, as well as of 
strong convictions and more than average self- 
reliance. In religion he was a devoted Meth- 
odi.st, for twenty years superintendent of the 
Sunday-school and for thirty-five years class 
leader. His house was a home for Methodist 
ministers who came that way, and many a 
weary circuit rider tliere found shelter and re- 
freshment. David Getter married Harriet 
Efner, daughter of Harvey Efner, formerly of 
Palmer, Monroe County. She is still living, 
being now past eighty years of age. Her 
father lived to the age of ninet\-three years, 
and was then next to the oldest Free Mason in 
the State. Mrs. Getter has three children 
now living; namely, Harvey, Jerome, and 
Henry C. Two — Charles and Madison — are 
deceased. 

Henry C. Getter obtained his early educa- 
tion in the common schools, and at a jirivate 
school taught by Professor James Edniondson, 



now principal of a college in Missouri. He 
studied law with Messrs. .Sandford & Thorn, 
was admitted to the liar, and then went tn Kal- 
amazoo, Mich., antl was there for a time with 
Briggs & Burroughs. Returning East, he 
formed in 1883 a partnership witii William IT. 
Engle, which still continues, this law firm 
being now the oUlest in the county and Mr. 
lingle the oldest lawyer in the State. Besides 
doing a large amoimt of office work, they have 
an extensive practice in the various courts of 
the State, including the Court of A])peals. 

Mr. Getter married Mary E., daughter of 
Albert Sawyer and grand-daughter of Dr. 
Moses Saw\'er, formerly of Fulton. Her 
father was a farmer in I'ulton. He died at 
the age of thirty-seven, leaving two children. 
Mr. and Mrs. Getter have one child, Jennie 
L. , who is now in the high school. Mr. 
Getter resided in P'ulton up to 1S97, when he 
removed to Middleburg. 

Mr. Getter is a Republican in jxilitics. He 
has been candidate for District Attorney, for 
County Judge, and for Supervisor, and has as- 
sisted to reduce the Democratic majority in 
the county. He is a member of the I. (). (). 1*'. 
of Middleburg. Mrs. Getter attends the Meth- 
odist church, and he contributes to its support. 



—♦-••-•-♦— 




J. BRIAVSTER, M.D.,* of North 
Blenheim, N.Y., was born in Scot- 
land, .Albany County, January 8, 1863, son of 
William J. and Margaret (Ramsey) Urewster. 
On the ])atciiial side he traces his ancestr)', we 
are told, to Elder William Brewster, of the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



421 



"Mayflower" and Plymouth Colony. His 
grandfather, who was born in 1795, and died 
in 1841, operated a carding-mill in Schoharie 
County. His grandmother Brewster's maiden 
name was Silence Gallup. 

William J. Brewster, the Doctor's father, 
was born in Albany County, in February, 
1839. His education was completed at Scho- 
harie Academy ; and he taught school fur a 
number of years in Schoharie County, where 
he also engaged in farming. His wife, Mar- 
garet, was the daughter of a prominent farmer 
and leading public official of Gilboa, who was 
of Scotch descent. Dr. Brewster's parents 
were members of the Reformed Church of 
Gallupvillc, and his father took much interest 
in church matters. He died April 13, 1883. 

W. J. Brewster obtained his elementary ed- 
ucation in the common schools, pursued more 
advanced studies at Schoharie Academy, and 
then by teaching school earned money enough 
to enable him to take the course at the Normal 
School, where he was graduated. His medical 
studies were begun under a private instructor, 
and continued at the University Medical Col- 
lege and at ]5ellevue Hospital Medical College. 
He took special courses in the laboratory, and 
a very thorough course in surgery. He was 
graduated a Doctor of Medicine in i8go, and 
then went to North Stratford, Coos County, 
N. H., where he was in practice till his health 
failed. After a season of rest and recupera- 
tion he came in 1897 to North Blenheim, 
where he is now settled. He is a well-edu- 
cated physician, and has a good country prac- 
tice. While in New Hampshire he was a 



specialist in orthopedic surgery, in which he 
has done some remarkable work. He was a 
Health Officer in New Hampshire, and served 
also as County Coroner. He was a member 
of Coos County (New Hampshire) Medical So- 
ciety, being later a member of the Schoharie 
County Society. He is a member of Scho- 
harie Valley Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 491. 
He has written valuable papers for various 
medical journals. He is a Republican in 
politics. 

Dr. Brewster married Emily E. Earle, of 
Valleyfield, Province of Quebec, Canada, and 
has one child. 



AMES FROST,* formerly a prominent 
citizen of Mariahville, in the town of 
Duanesburg, N.Y., was born in Wash- 
ington County, this State, August 4, 1783, 
son of Lot and Temperance (Semen) Frost. 
He was a descendant in the fifth generation of 
William Frost, first, a native of Hampshire, 
England, and a Quaker, who came to America 
and settled in Boston, but on account of the 
religious intolerance of that time was obliged 
to seek a home elsewhere, and accordingly re- 
moved to Long Island. He married Rebecca, 
daughter of Nicholas Wright. William Frost, 
second, the next in line of descent, who was 
born on Long Island about the year 1647, and 
resided there until his death, married Hannah 
Trior. 

f^enjamin Frost, son of William, second, 
and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
was born June 9, 17 19, and spent the greater 



422 



BI OGR A I^ H I C A L R E V I KW 



])ait (if liis active life in Dutcliess Count)-, 
New ^'llri<. lie married Rose Springer. 
Their son Lot, father of James, was born in 
Dutchess Count)', March i, 1744. He was a 
resident for some years of Washington County, 
whence he moved to Duanesburg, tai<ing up his 
residence on (Juaker Street, a locality settled 
by the I-"riends' Societ)' at an early date, and 
which is still known b)' that name. His wife, 
Temperance, was born on August 30, 1744- 

James Frcst accompanied his parents from 
Washington Count)' to Duanesburg. He re- 
ceived a good education, and taught sciiool in 
his younger days, but relinc|uished that occu- 
pation to become a survevor, in which capacity 
he jjcrformed much work (if an important char- 
acter. He projected and comi)leted a plank 
road from Albany to l-'ort Hunter, and drafted 
one of the earlier maps of Schenectady County. 
In 1833-34 he surveyed the new line between 
Canada and New York State, as well as the 
greater part of Clinton, Essex, and Franklin 
Counties, tlien a wilderness. With his associ- 
ates he camped out for weeks and months at a 
time. At night the wolves howled around 
them, and were kept at bay only by fires. 
That section of the State, the Adirondack 
region, is now a famous place of resort in sum- 
mer. In iSkj he began a survey of the east 
sliore of tJK- Hudson River, uiuler the direction 
of the .Surveyor General, traversing the river by 
sloojj and making numerous soundings. He 
also surveyeil the ground f(ir tiie secimd rail- 
road built in the United States, that between 
Alban\' and Schenectady, and surveyed and 
made maps ui all did .Schdhaiie, besides other 



territory. In 1S35 he surve)ed lands in 1-niza- 
bethtown (now Elizabeth City), N.J., belong- 
ing to Messrs. Conner, Bryant & Crane of that 
])lace, and Clark and others of New York, and 
made maps of the city. Subsequently, remov- 
ing from Ouakcr Street, to the nortlierly part 
of the town of Duanesburg, about two miles 
west of Mariahville, he engaged in farming, 
and also conducted a general store. Possess- 
ing an unusual amount of energ)' and ability, 
which made him es])eciall\- eligible to the pub- 
lic service, he tudk a leading part in tnwn 
affairs, was [jarticularly interested in educa- 
tional matters, acted as a Justice of the Peace 
for man\' wars, and was a member of the As- 
sembl) thiee terms. Political!)', he was a 
stanch supporter of the Whig party. Though 
reared a Ouaker, he was liberal in his relig- 
ious (iiiinions, and in his later )'ears favored 
the Universalist belief. He died at his home 
in Mariahville, December 23, iiS5i, and his 
death was the cause of general regret. 

James P'rost married Mary Marsh, who was 
bdi'ii in Canaan, Conn., (Jctober 24, I7<S7, 
daughter of Silas Marsh. She was a good bus- 
iness woman, anil rendered valuable assistance 
to ii(.'r husbanii by carrying on the store while 
lu' was absent (in surve)'iug trijis. She became 
the mother of ten ciiildren — five sons and five 
daughters — all (if wlioni grew to maturit)', and 
two aie living, namely: (General D. M. Purest, 
a graduate of the Cnited States Military Acad- 
eni)' at West I'dint, and now a prominent resi- 
dent of .St. Louis, Md. ; and Miss M. Louise 
l''nist. Ceneral b'rost had a large famih" of 
ifirls, three df wiidm married p]nLriish Udble- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



423 



men. One of them is now living in Paris. 
The others are in England. Miss M. Louise 
Frost, who is a lady of superior attainments, 
resides at the homestead during summer, and 
passes her winters in the South. The other 
children of James and Mary (Marsh) Frost 
were: Caroline, Adelia D., Silas W., Ro- 
sanna, James, William M., John S. , and 
Phcebe A. The mother died August 18, 1864. 
The sons nearly all studied and followed engi- 
neering. John S. , who was a lawyer, died in 
1857. 



(ffJtOHN H. PUTNAM, who carries on 
farming and market gardening in Nis- 
kayuna, was born in this town, June 15, 
1 8 16. His parents, Harmon and Margaret 
(Wheaton) Putnam, were natives of this 
county. His paternal grandfather, John Put- 
nam, was an early settler here and a noted 
hunter in his day. He afterward resided in 
various places, and died in Greene, Chenango 
County, at an advanced age. 

Harmon Putnam, the father, followed the 
carpenter's trade during his active period. 
He was married in Niskayuna, which was 
thenceforward his place of residence. He 
was a reliable workman, and as an honest, in- 
dustrious citizen he stood high in the estima- 
tion of the entire community. He died at 
the age of si.xty years. Margaret Wheaton 
Putnam, his wife, died at the age of twenty- 
seven. She was the mother of four children, 
of whom John H., the subject of this sketch, 
was the first-born, and is the only one living. 



Reuben and Jacob died young, and the other 
died in infancy. 

John H. Putnam was educated in the town 
schools of Niskayuna. At an early age he 
began work as an assistant on the farm he now 
occupies, which was then owned by one John 
Clark, and he afterward worked for other 
farmers in the neighborhood. When seven- 
teen years old he began an apprenticeship at 
the carpenter's trade, which was his occupa- 
tion for thirty years, or until 1864. In 1S76 
he bought his present farm of seventy acres, 
which he has greatly improved, and has since 
been engaged in general farming. 

On February 28, 1839, Mr. Putnam was 
joined in marriage with Mary Ann Van 
Vranken, of Niskayuna, daughter of Jacob 
Van Vranken and a representative of an old 
family of this town. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam 
have one son living, Jacob, who was born 
January i, 1846, and is engaged in farming 
with his father. He married Gertrude Mc- 
Chessen, and has four children — John, Mar- 
garet A., Julia, and Lena. 

Since the breaking out of the Southern re- 
bellion in April, 1861, Mr. Putnam has voted 
with the Republican party. He has served 
with ability as Supervisor and Town Clerk, 
each two terms. He was Highway Commis- 
sioner five years, and has been a Justice of the 
Peace. He is a Master Mason and one of 
the oldest members of St. George Lodge, 
No. 6, F. & A. M., of Schenectady, having 
joined the order in 1S55. Mr. and Mrs. Put- 
nam are members of the Dutch Reformed 
church. 



424 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




ADISON YOUNG,* for a number 



of years a prominent figure in the 
public affairs of Carlisle, Scho- 
harie County, N. Y., was born in this town, 
September 20, 1846, son of Benjamin and 
Lana (Van Vaulkenburgh) Young. His groat- 
grandfather was Peter Young, a German, who 
came here from Hudson, N.Y. , as a pioneer, 
and acquired possession of two separate tracts 
of land, the whole amounting to three hundred 
and ten acres. His log cabin stood about 
twenty-five rods west of the Rock School- 
house. He was a successful farmer, and his 
property, which was unencumbered at the time 
of his death, he divided among his children. 

Matthias Young, Madison Young's grand- 
father, whose birth took place January 20, 
1763, was the first white child born in Car- 
lisle. Receiving a share of his father's prop- 
erty, he erected a frame house, and carried on 
general farming until his death, which oc- 
curred May 21, 1822. He was actively inter- 
ested in political and religious affairs, held 
some of the important town ofifices, and was 
one of the leading members of the Dutch Re- 
formed church. He married Helena Patria, 
who was of German descent, and she died 
March 14, 1824. They were the parents of 
five children; namely, Solomon, Benjamin, 
Richard, Margaret, and Lana. The great- 
grandfather served in the war of the Revolu- 
tion, and the grandfather in that of 18 12. 

Benjamin Young, Madison Young's father, 
was born October 20, 1800. He succeeded to 
the possession of about eighty acres of his 
father's property when a young man, antl cul- 



tivated his farm energetically for the rest of 
his life. He died in October, 1869. He was 
the father of six children: Helena, wife of J. 
Rose; Margaret, wife of Demosthenes Young; 
Sarah M., who married Adam Cole; l'>a A., 
widow of Abraham Hurnstein; Madison, the 
subject of this sketch; and Frances M., wife 
of K. C. Grantier. 

Madison Young acquired a district-school 
education, and his aptitude for learning 
enabled him to attain unusual proficiency in 
his studies. He assisted in carrying on the 
home farm until after the death of his father, 
when he turned his attention to educational 
work, and taught school with marked success 
during the following eighteen years, with the 
exception of one term, the greater part of the 
time being spent in this and the adjacent 
localities. For the first term of teaching he 
received one dollar per day, after that two 
dollars a day, very few then receiving so high a 
salary. Finally becoming tired of the arduous 
as well as monotonous duties of a pedagogue, 
he resumed farming at the homestead, which 
contains about eighty acres of well-improved 
land; and, though not inclined to force its 
yielding power, he nevertheless raises excel- 
lent crops. 

As one of the foremost leaders of the Dem- 
ocratic party in this section, he has long 
maintained a wide influence in public affairs, 
and enjoys the confidence of all voters irre- 
spective of politics. His long and faithful 
service to the county was characterized by a 
judicious ex|)cncliture of public funds and an 
earnest desire to promote the best interests of 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



42s 



the people. As chairman of the Committees 
on Printing and on Ratio and Apportionment 
during his two years as Supervisor, he greatly 
reduced the expenses of these departments, 
and by close figuring was able to effect con- 
siderable retrenchment in other branches of 
the service. 

Mr. Young married for his first wife Eliza- 
beth Hrounnaghin and for his second Nettie 
Hilsinger. He has no children. In his re- 
ligious views he is liberal. 




ILLIAM H. NEVILLE,* a repre- 
sentative citizen of Middleburg, 
N. Y. , and a man of varied business interests, 
was born in the house which is now his home 
on August 6, 1867, son of Jacob and Jane E. 
(Shafer) Neville. His grandfather, William 
Neville, was a pioneer settler in Sharon, and 
died there at an advanced age, leaving a large 
family. 

Jacob Neville, one of the youngest of the 
children of William, was born in Sharon on 
August 21, 1827, and died in Middleburg in 
1 89 1. He was for many years closely identi- 
fied with the growth of this town, and was one 
of the leaders in every worthy enterprise started 
here. His boyhood days were passed on the 
farm in Sharon, and early in life he assisted 
in the family support. His career in mercan- 
tile affairs began at the time he went into a 
store in Sharon Hill as clerk. At twenty- 
three years of age he came to Middleburg and 
entered the general merchandise store of the 
old firm of Becker & Beckman. So valuable 



did he make himself in the conduct of the busi- 
ness that upon the retirement of Mr. Beckman 
he became a partner in the concern, which 
thereupon assumed the name of Becker, Neville 
& Co. They were the leading merchants of 
the town, and had a large trade in all the sur- 
rounding country. In time Mr. Becker sold 
his interest in the business to Mr. Hoag, and 
the film name became Neville & Hoag. Later 
Mr. Hoag sold out to Mr. J. L. Engel, and 
still later a brother of the latter, Mr. A. B. 
Engel, was admitted to partnership. The 
business was then continued up to 1889 under 
the name of Neville, Engel & Co. Upon Mr. 
Neville's retirement in 1S89, the firm became 
Engel Brothers, and as such has continued in 
business to the present time. 

Among the various enterprises in the accom- 
plishment of which Jacob Neville was an im- 
portant factor may be mentioned the follow- 
ing: the Middleburg & Schoharie Railroad; 
the First National Bank and later the bank 
building; and the Union school-house build- 
ing, which is one of the finest in the county. 
He was a large stockholder in the railroad 
organization, and was a director and the vice- 
president until his death. He was al.so a di- 
rector in the bank as long as he lived. Politi- 
cally, he was a Democrat, and frequent ajipeals 
were made to him to accept public office. 
From 18S5 to i88g, under Mr. Cleveland's 
administration, he was Postmaster of Middle- 
burg; and, had not his death prevented, his 
friends would undoubtedly have elected him to 
the Assembly for the session of 1892-93. He 
was for many years an Elder in the Lutheran 



426 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



church, and generously assisted the church 
hnlh by financial and by moral support. 

His marriage occurred in January, 1S64. 
His wife was the daughter of William and 
Maria (Gridley) Shafer, and grand-daughter of 
Josejih GridJey, who was one of Washington's 
body-guard. William Shafer was born in 
Blenheim, and was a lifeU)ng resident there. 
He owned a number of dwelling-houses and 
farms, and dealt (|uite extensively in real es- 
tate, besides carrying on general farming. As 
a business man he was very successful. He 
died at the age of eighty-two. His wife, who 
died at the age of si.xty-four, was a native of 
Middleburg. Of tJic lour children born to 
them three are living, namely: Mrs. Neville, 
who resides with her son on the faini settled 
by her ancestors; Margaret, who is the wife of 
George Brockway, of Chicago; and Nancy. 
The last named married A. J. Freneyer, of 
Albany, who for many years managed the 
Freneyer House in Middleburg. 

William H. Neville obtained his education 
in the luiblic schools of Middleburg and at 
Albany Academy. Leaving the latter after 
four years of study there, he entered the post- 
office, his father then being Postmaster, and 
for tlie succeeding four years he had practical 
charge of the office. Upon the expiration of 
his fatiier's term he went into the store as 
clerk, and afterward he went to Albany as 
clerk in the insurance office of W. C. Rose. 
Still later he became interested in the Bran- 
dow Printing Company, of Albany, but when 
the ])]ant was burned he returned to Middle- 
burg, where he took charge of his father's 



affairs until the death of the latter. Shortly 
after this event the son bought the Middleburg 
Gazette, of which he continued to be the pro- 
prietor for three years. Since selling out in 
1895, he has occujiicd himself with jonking 
after his own and his mother's real estate in- 
terests, and in doing some general farming and 
hop-raising. As he has a large real estate 
property, including a luunber of farms, he has 
little chance to be idle. He also retains an 
interest in the Brandow I'linling Company, 
which has been reorganized since the fire. 
Besides this he is a stockholder in the Middle- 
burg & Schoharie Railroad, in the projected 
road to Catskill, ant! in the National Bank. 
He is a director in the Middleburg Telephone 
Company and treasurer of the high school. 
For three years he was Village Clerk, and for 
a number of years he served on the Board of 
Education. Politically, he is a Democrat, 
and for two years was a member of the county 
committee. 

Mr. Neville was married on June 22, 1893, 
to Maud I'2. Lewis, who was born in Gilboa. 
She is the daughter of Oscar and Agnes 
(Strickland) Lewis. Her father is now one of 
the most prominent stock farmers in Cones- 
ville. Mrs. Neville's two brothers, Messrs. 
Frank and Ra)-mond Lewis, are interested in 
the stock farm in comjiany with their father. 
Mrs. Neville graduated from the Normal 
School, and taught before her marriage in the 
grammar school in Middleburg. She is the 
mother of one son, Donald. Mrs. Neville is a 
member of the Lutheran church, and her hus- 
band is an attendant of the Sunday services. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



427 



Mr. Neville belongs to the Masonic organiza- 
tions here; to La Bastile Lodge, No. 494, 
I. O. O. F. , and Encam]3ment No. 129; also 
to the order of Red Men. He has been Chief 
Patriarch of the encampment for one year. 




jHARLES MANN,* one of the must 
able and jirogressive agriculturists of 
.Schoharie County, owns and occu- 
pies a well-appointed farm in Fulton, not far 
from the village of Breakabeen. He was born 
in this town, November 2, 1856. He is a son 
of the late Almon Mann, and comes of hardy 
New England stock, his grandfather, Thomas 
Mann, having been born and bred in Vermont. 
From his hillside home in the Green Moun- 
tains Thomas removed to Albany County, New 
York, while yet a young man, and in the newer 
country cleared and parti}' improved a farm. 
Coming then to Schoharie County from Berne, 
he spent his remaining days in Fulton, living 
until eighty-six years old. 

Almon Mann was born in Berne, N. Y. , but 
removed with his jjarents to Fulton when a 
boy, and was there reared to man's estate. 
After completing his education, he worked as 
a farm laborer imtil ready to settle in life, 
when he bought land, which he cultivated 
some years. Prior to his death, however, at 
the age of sixty-six years, he removed to the 
village of Breakabeen. A consistent member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, he held 
many of the offices in that organization, and 
was connected with its Sunday-schooJ. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Maria Chapman, 



is living at Breakabeen, an active woman of 
sixty-four years. She was born in Fulton, the 
daughter of Jacob Chapman. She is a sister 
of William W. Chapman, whose sketch may 
be found on another page of this volume. She 
has twelve children, as follows: Alice, living 
in Amsterdam; Jacob H., who has been School 
Commissioner of Schoharie nine years; Theron 
H. ; Charles; Ro.se E. ; Wellington; Lilly; 
Irving; Julia; Hattie; Josiah ; and Manley B. 
Charles Mann acquired his early education 
in Fulton and Middleburg. After leaving the 
parental roof he made his home with an uncle, 
and for three or more terms taught school, a 
part of the time being thus employed in Rich- 
mondville. On marrying he bought and took 
possession of his present farm of one hundred 
and fifty acres, formerly known as the Burgh 
farm, where he has since been profitabl}' en- 
gaged in general farming and dairying. In 
the latter industr\- he is very successful, hav- 
ing a well-selected herd of Guernsey and Jersey 
cattle. On the estate he has made improve- 
ments of an excellent character, havine: brought 
the larger part of the land to a high state of 
cultivation, erected nearly all the buildings on 
the jilace, and furnished it with the latest ap- 
proved modern farm machinery and imple- 
ments. He has built a silo, which he con- 
siders a good investment for a dairy farmer, 
and he uses a separator in his dair\'. Mr. 
Mann reads the leading journals devoted to 
agriculture, and he is himself a frequent con- 
tributor to the home and agricultural depart- 
ments of various papers, including the New- 
York Homestead Txnd the Utica Press. He is 



428 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



an active member of the New Vork State 
Grange, in wliich he has served as lecturer 
several terms. In July, 1898, he jiassed the 
required examinations for a milk expert in 
Albany. In [xilitics he is an unswerving 
Democrat, and has been nominated as Assessor. 
A valued member of the Lutheran Church of 
l^reakabeen, he has held the position of treas- 
urer and secretary, and fur many years has been 
superintendent of the Sunday-school connected 
with it. 

In 1879 Mr. Mann married Miss Bertha Ter- 
pening, who was born in Princetown, Schenec- 
tady County, daughter of Henry H. Terpening, 
a farmer of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Mann 
have four cliilclren. 




TANTON OSTERHOUT,* one of 
the stirring farmers of Carlisle, 
Schoharie County, was born in this 
town. May 20, 1852, son of Jacob and Hetsey 
K. (Kniskern) Osterhout. His paternal grand- 
father, Abraham Osterhout, a native of Hol- 
land, immigrated to New York when young, 
and coming from Dutchess County, this State, 
to West Carlisle, settled u|)on a tract of land 
containing about two hundred and fifty acres. 
A sturdy pioneer, lie improved his kilid into a 
good farm, and he took an active jiart in the 
affairs of the Dutch Reformed church in his 
neighborhood. He was twice married, and b\- 
both of his wives had chil(lri.'n. Those of 
his secfjnd union were: Jacob A., George, 
Chauncy, Sarah, and Catherine. George, who 
was quite active in politiciil aff:iirs, diet! in 



1862, aged forty-five years. Chauncy, who 
was engaged in business in Cobleskill, died ia 
1872. Sarah is the widow of David V. Brown. 
Catherine, who married J. J. l^rowii, died in 
1 87s. 

Jacob A. Osterhout, Stanton Ostcrhout's 
father, was a lifelong resident of Carlisle. 
After iiis father's tleath he and one of his 
brotiiers bought the homestead. He was one 
of the first farmers in the town to ensasre in 
the raising of liops, which he produced quite 
extensively, and he also made a specialty of 
hay and grain. He owned about four hundred 
acres of land. He was prominent and influen- 
tial in town and e(iunt\' ]iolitics, took a con- 
spicuous part in the various conventions, but 
would not accept office. His religious jirefer- 
ence was for the Dutch Reformeil churcii. He 
was the father of seven children, namely: 
Josiah ; Stanton, the subject of this sketch; 
Wilson; Alfred; Albert; Klmira; and Melissa. 
Josiah died at the age of eighteen; Melissa 
married Daniel IMickle; l^lmira married 
Aaron Young; Alfred is residing at the home- 
stead; and the others are engaged in farming 
in this town. 

Stanton Osterhout was educated in the dis- 
trict school. He assisted his father in farm- 
ing until after his marriage, wiien he purchased 
the ijroijcrty known as the Young estate, which 
was formerly owned by his father. This farm, 
which originally consisted of one hundred and 
fift}-fi\e acres, he lias enlargetl liy tin- atMition 
of adjoining land. He di\ides his t iine iietween 
da/ry farming and the cultivation of ho|)s. 
He keeps from twentv-five to tiiirt\- head of 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



429 



Holstein cattle, besides other blooded stock, 
and is a member of the American Holstein 
Association. 

He has served as Supervisor for at least two 
terms, was chairman of the Committees on 
Printing, Town Accounts, and Equalization, 
and by judicious management succeeded in 
making a considerable reduction in public ex- 
penditures. He has served as Highway Com- 
missioner one year, and upon the Democratic 
County Committee several terms. He was 
in.strumental in establishing the Farmers' In- 
surance Company of Seward, Carlisle, and 
Cobleskill ; was one of the organizers, and is 
director and treasurer, of the Hop Insurance 
Company; is local agent for the Sharon, Car- 
lisle, and Seward Insurance companies, and for 
the hop company. 

Mr. Osterhout married Josephine Hilsinger, 
daughter of William Hilsinger. They have 
had three children — Orson, Elva, and Emory. 
Elva married Homer Karher. Orson died July 
II, 1891, aged twenty years and seven months. 

Mr. Osterhout belongs to Cobleskill Lodge, 
No. 394, is vice-president of the local agricult- 
ural society, a charter member of the grange, 
and a member of other organizations. He at- 
tends the Dutch Reformed church, but contrib- 
utes liberally toward the support of other relig- 
ious denominations. 



(slYOSEPH B. GRAHAM,* e.x-Mayor of 
Schenectady, N. Y. , was born in 
Rossie, St. Lawrence County, .his 

State, September 27, 1830, son of William 



and Janet (Eairbairn) Graham. His father 
was born in Wigton, near Carlisle, tlngland, 
June 6, 1806, and his mother was a native of 
Scotland. 

Joseph Graham, the grandfather of Joseph 
11, was born in Wigton about the year 1767. 
He was a saddler by trade, and carried on busi- 
ness there until meeting with reverses. In 
April, 1 819, he sailed from Liverpool with 
his wife and eleven children, landing at Que- 
bec in the following June. With his small 
means he purchased a tract of wild land in 
Wilna, Jefferson County, N.Y., and with the 
assistance of his five sturdy sons he cleared a 
good farm, upon which he resided for the rest 
of his life. He died in 1841, and his wife, 
who survived him, died in Lowville, N.Y. , 
on her eightieth birthday, while visiting her 
daughter. They had five sons and si.x daugh- 
ters. One of the latter, who was taken ill 
v^hile on the passage from England, died soon 
after landing. The first and third sons set- 
tled near St. Catherine's, Canada. The 
others located in this State, married, and 
reared large families. All lived to an ad- 
vanced age, and Margaret, the youngest, died 
in Carthage, N.Y. , at the age of eighty years. 
The grandparents were members of the Church 
of England, but, through the influence of the 
itinerant Methodist preachers who visited 
the outlying districts in those early, days, 
their children were converted to that faith. 

William Graham, the father, was educated 
in England, and was an apt scholar, especially 
in mathematics. When nineteen years old he 
began teaching school in the Scotch settle- 



43° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



mcnt near Wilna, but his jirincipal business 
was the furnishing of plans ami specifications 
to contractors for heavy mason work, bridge 
building, and so forth. Me was a highly in- 
telligent, well-read man, particularly fond of 
biography and history, and is said to have 
predicted that slavery in the South would ul- 
timately cause a civil war. He died No- 
vember 3, 1858. Jeancttc, his first wife, 
whom lie married in 1829, was a daughter of 
James and Mary (Bell) Fairbairn, who came 
from the neighborhood of Glasgow, Scotland, 
in 1818, and settled in Rossie, N. Y. They 
were industrious farming people and sturdy 
pioneers. They reared one son and five 
daughters. William Graham by his first mar- 
riage was the father of eight children, of 
whom Joseph H., the subject of this sketch, 
was the eldest. All are living except James, 
the second-born, who died suddenly in May, 
1894, aged sixty-two years, leaving two chil- 
dren. The mother died in 1852, aged forty- 
two years. Hy a second marriage William 
Graham had three daughters. 

Joseph II Graham resided with his mater- 
nal grandparents from his fifth to liis tenth 
year, and, as they spoke the Scotch dialect, he 
learned it to perfection. He began his edu- 
cation in the district schools, and was fitted 
for college at the Weslcyan Seminary, 
Gouverneur, N.Y. In order to procure funds 
for the completion of his studies, he taught in 
the common schools until 1854, when he en- 
tered Union College, where he was graduated 
with honors in 1858. After teaching classics 
and matliematics at the Stillwater Academy 



for a time, he came to Schenectady, and in 
company with Mr. F. A. \'oung was engaged 
for the succeeding eight years in mercantile 
business, dealing in books, stationery, wall 
papers, pianofortes, and other musical instru- 
ments. Selling his interest to his partner, 
he was out of business for about si.x years, and 
then engaged in the dry-goods trade as a mem- 
ber of the firm of T. H. Reeves & Co., from 
which he withilrew some seven years later. 
He was for a number of years extensively en- 
gaged in the real estate business, and, al- > 
though his activity in that line has somewhat 
diminished of late, he still owns a large 
amount of valuable city property, which is oc- 
cupied by thirty or more tenants. He resides 
in a substantial house at 6 Nott Terrace, 
which he built twenty-seven years ago. 

Mr. Graham is a director of the Union Na- 
tional Bank. In 1879 he became a member 
of the Mutual Relief Society, under certifi- 
cate No. 2 12; he was a member of its Roard 
of Directors for six years; was chairman of 
the Reserve Fund Committee and of the com- 
mittee appointed to revise the by-laws; and 
at the annual convention in 1883 he was 
unanimously elected vice - president. His 
connection with the society has been Tnarked 
by an unusually clear conception of and a 
conscientious regard for its business inter- 
ests, and he is considered one of its most val- 
ued officials. He was twice elected to the 
Common Council, has been a member of the 
Boards of Health and luhication, and as 
Mayor of the city in 1879-80 he managed the 
munici[)al affairs in a business-like manner. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



431 



On August 8, 185S, Mr. Graham was united 
in marriage with Cornelia L. White, of this 
county, daughter of Andrew and Cornelia 
(De Forest) White. Her father was a native 
of the north of Ireland, and her mother be- 
longed to an old Dutch family of this city. 
She died in 1878, and in 1880 he married for 
his second wife Sarah li. Hagaman, also of 
a well-known Uutch family, daughter of 
Joseph J. and Elizabeth M. Hagaman. He 
was the father of three children by his first 
union, namely: Jennie, who died at the age 
of five; William, who died at the age of one 
year and six months; and Edward White 
Graham, who married Abbie Craver, and is 
now residing in Denver, Col. One child, 
Mary Hagaman, by his second marriage, is 
living with her parents. 

Mr. Graham is an active member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, which he has 
served in an official capacity. He was prom- 
inently identified with the building of the 
present edifice, which was completed in 1874, 
at a cost of eighty thousand dollars, and is a 
liberal contributor toward its support. He is 
a member of Union College Chapter of the 
Phi Beta Kappa Society; has been a trustee 
of the Troy Conference Academy, Poultney, 
Vt., continuously since 1S74; '•nd has been 
president of the board since 1878. He pos- 
sesses and highly prizes a small writing-desk 
which was purchased in Englantl for five 
guineas by his grandfather, who in April, 
1 8 19, gave it to his son William. In it are 
some rare specimens of drawings executed by 
his father when a lad of thirteen years, and 



also some letters received from the father by 
the son while in college. Mr. Graham re- 
ceived this heirloom from his father in No- 
vember, 1S58, just before his father's death. 



fsjtAMES C. McWILLIAMS,* an able 
farmer and enterprising insurance agent 
of Prattsville, was born in Kortright, 
Delaware County, August 4, 1845, son of Jo- 
seph S. and Mary Ann (Kilpatrick) McWill- 
iams. His parents were both natives of that 
town, and he is of Scotch descent. Joseph S. 
McWilliams learned the blacksmith's trade, 
which he follnwed until turning his attention 
to farming; and he was engaged in the latter 
occupation at the time of his death, which 
occurred October 27, 1869, at the age of fifty- 
seven years. He was an upright, conscien- 
tious man, who possessed considerable natural 
ability, antl he acquired success in his calling. 
In politics he was a Republican. He and his 
wife, Mary Ann McWilliams, were members of 
the Presbyterian church. They had two sons : 
John B. , who is no longer living; and James 
C. , the subject of this sketch. The mother 
died May 19, 1890, aged seventy-four years. 
John B. McWilliams enlisted for service in 
the Civil War while under age, and was re- 
jected on that account, but when old enough 
he re-enlisted in Company K, One Hundred 
and Twentieth Regiment, New York Volun- 
teers, of which he became Orderly Sergeant. 
He died in the army at the age of twenty-one 
years. 

James C. McWilliams started in life for 



432 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



himself at the age of sixteen as clerk in the 
general store of G. C. Fcnn, with whom he re- 
mained four years. After residing at Red 
l""alls, N. Y., for a time, he became a tra\elling 
salesman for a L'tica cigar firm, and a year 
later he went to New "\'()rk Cit)', where he se- 
cured a clerkship in a dry-goods store. He 
was subsequently in the employ of J. S. Con- 
over, dealer in grates and fenders. After re- 
siding in the metropolis about five years, he 
came to Prattsville, where for the next seven 
years he was engaged in the cooperage busi- 
ness. Selling out in 1893, he was placed in 
charge of the post-ofifice, and, being appointed 
Postmaster by President Cleveland, he contin- 
ued to serve the community in that capacity 
uiilii 1897. He is now local agent for several 
large insurance companies; and he also carries 
on a small farm, which he devotes to market 
gardening. He is quite extensively engaged 
in raising bees, and sells a large quantity of 
honey annually. Politically, he is a Demo- 
crat. He has been a Justice of the Peace for 
twelve consecutive years, was for a number of 
years Inspector of Election.s, served two terms 
<in the special license board, and was nomi- 
nated \>y his party for the presidency of the 
village, which lie dcclineii to accept. He is 
sincerely esteemetl as a high-minded, [jublic- 
spiiitecl citizen. 

In 18(39 ^^r. McWilliams was united in 
marriage with Elizabeth Decker, his first wife, 
a native of Roxbury, N.Y. , daughter of Lorin 
and Sally Ann Decker. Mr. Decker was a 
])iiisperi)us larmer and a life-long resident of 
liiat town. She died, Icaxing one son, Will- 



iam J., a farmer and market gardener, who 
married Mary Churchill. For his .second 
wife Mr. James C. McWilliams married Ella 
Miller, a native of Cairo, N.Y., daughter 
of Seymour Miller. Her father was for years 
a widely-known hotel-keeiJer. At one time he 
was proprietor of the Prattsville House; and, 
previous to coming here, he kept hotels in 
Cairo, Windham, and other places. The chil- 
dren of this union are James E. and Marie. 

Mr. McWilliams was made a Mason over 
thirty years ago, and is now one of the leading 
members of Oasis Lodge, in which he has oc- 
cupied all the important chairs, having been 
its Worshipful Master for six years in succes- 
sion. The family attend the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 




HARLES K. ERAZIER, M.D.,' an 
able and progressive physician of 
Cobleskill, Schoharie County, was 
born in this town, October 17, 1850. He is 
the son of the late Dr. David PTazier, who was 
here engaged in the practice of medicine for 
forty-seven consecutive years. His great- 
grandfather P'razier came to Cobleskill from 
Germany in 1776, being one of the early set- 
tlers of this part of the county. He was here 
engaged as a tiller of the soil the remainder of 
his (lays, and here his son John, the father of 
the elder Doctor, was born and reared. John 
Frazier was born in that part of Cobleskill 
that is now kn(]wn as RichnKUuhille, and, 
ha\'ing succeeded to the occupation ol his 
father, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



433 



throughout the active period of his life of 
seventy-eight years. 

David Frazier obtained his elementary edu- 
cation in the common schools of this town, and 
was graduated from the Schoharie and Albany 
Medical Schools. Settling in Cobleskill, he 
practised his profession with unusual success, 
having an extensive patronage, and being by 
far the best-known physician within a radius of 
twenty miles. He was very influential in 
local affairs, and besides being one of the 
members of the first Board of Town Trustees, 
a position which he filled several years, and 
Supervisor of the tnwn three terms, he was 
superintendent of schools a number of years, 
aiul also Coroner. In politics he was true to 
the principles in which he was reared, and 
zealously sujiported the Democratic party. He 
died in 1894, aged seventy-five years. His 
wife, Susanna Jenkins, was born and educated 
in Dover, England, from whence she came with 
her parents to New York State when a girl. 
She died September 25, 1897, aged eighty-three 
years, leaving three children, namely: Eliza- 
beth; Charles K., the special subject of this 
sketch ; and Frances, wife of the Rev. George 
Muller. Both parents were members of the 
Lutheran church. 

Charles K. Frazier received his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of Cobleskill, and 
alter taking a course of study at the Albany 
Acadeni)- he read medicine a while with his 
father and with Dr. Armsby, of Albany. He 
was graduated from the Albany Medical Col- 
lege in 1873, and spent his first year of prac- 
tice in All^any. He sulisequentl)- pmctiset! 



two years each in Waverly, Tioga County, 
N. Y. , and l?ig Mats, Chemung County, not 
far from Elmira. In 1878 he returned to 
Cobleskill, and in the time that has since in- 
tervened he has built up a large and lucrative 
practice. 

He is a sound Democrat, and was formerly 
quite active in political circles and a regular 
attendant of primaries and local conventions. 
In 1877 he was a delegate to the State conven- 
tion that nominated Horatio Seymour for gov- 
ernor, and which, on Seymour's refusal of the 
proffered chair, reconvened at Saratoga, and 
nominated Robinson, the successful candidate. 
He has served as Town Clerk, and, having 
been appointed Coroner to fill out an unex- 
pired term by his old-time friend, Governor 
David B. Hill, he has since held the position, 
having been re-elected for a term of four years 
in 1S91 and again re-elected for another term 
in 1895. He is a member of the Schoharie 
Medical Society, and since 1S95 has been its 
president. 

In 1874 Dr. Frazier married Miss Rosalia 
L. Camp, daughter of Nathan Camp, a promi- 
nent citizen of Campville, Tioga County, 
where he still resides. Dr. and Mrs. Frazier 
have one child, Nellie. 




|RS. MARY J. MULFORD,* pro- 
lirietor of the Mountain Summit 
House, Tannersville, is a native 
of New York City. Her parents, John and 
Mary (Cor.son) Ikaden, were natives of Ire- 
land, but came to America ])rior to theii' mar- 



434 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



riage. Arriving in New York at the age of 
nineteen, her father secured a jiosition in a 
store. He subsequently came to Tannersville 
in the employ of the Edwards Tannery Com- 
pany, remaining with that concern until it 
went out of business. After following various 
occupations, Mr. Braden turned his attention 
to farming, upon the property now owned and 
occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Mulford. His 
death occurred here at the age of seventy years. 
To him and his wife, Mary, were horn three 
children — Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary J., 
the subject of this sketch. Margaret resides 
with her sister in Hunter; and Elizabeth, who 
is the wife of William Stewart, is living in 
Sullivan County. The mother died at si.xty- 
seven. The parents were Presbyterians. 

Mary J- Hraden in her girlhood attended the 
common school.s, acquiring therein a practical 
knowledge of .several branches of study, which 
have since been useful to her in a business 
way. In 1868 she became the wife of Samuel 
S. Mulford, who was born in Harpersficld, 
Delaware County, son of a prosperous farmer 
of the same name. Mr. Mulford was well ed- 
ucated, and when a young man he taught 
.schools in Delaware, Schoharie, and Greene 
Counties. After his marriage he was engaged 
in the hotel Inisiness in Cairo, this county, for 
a short time, and, going from that town to 
Gilboa, Schoharie County, he conducted a 
.stage line plying between Windham and Cats- 
kill. Relinquishing the latter enterprise, he 
came to Hunter, where he began the improve- 
ment of the Hraden farm for summer resort 
purposes by first removing the old dwelling, 



which he replaced with a more commodious 
building containing accommodations for a 
number of guests. The success of the venture 
made necessary an enlargement ot the house, 
the addition being completed in 1S91, the year 
in which he died. He was then fifty-six years 
old. Mr. Mulford was w'idely and favorably 
known throughout this section as an able busi- 
ness man and a public-spirited citizen, ever 
displaying an active interest in the political, 
moral, and religious welfare of the conimu- 
nit)-. He served as a Supervisor for a number 
of years, was School Commissioner for two 
terms of two years each, and he was an earnest 
supporter of the Democratic part}-. His judg- 
ment in public affairs was much sought after 
and followed. Perceiving the need of a per- 
manent religious organization in this village, 
he was mainly instrumental in causing one to 
be established, subscribing liberally toward the 
erection of a church. He was a member of 
the Masonic order, and had occupied some of 
the imjiortant chairs in the Hhie Lotlge at Sau- 
gerties. Samuel S. Mulford was the father of 
three children, namely: William, Maud, and 
Francis, all of whom are now assisting in 
carrying on the hotel. William married 
Carrie McGee, and has four children. 

After the death of her hu.sband Mrs. Mul- 
ford became manager as well as proprietor of 
the hotel, and in these capacities has displayed 
her ability by successfully conducting both 
the business and domestic departments. The 
Mountain .Summit House, which is a [deasant 
and healthful summer home, occujiies a sightly 
location upon ele\ated ground. It has ample 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



435 



accommodations for two hundred guests, and 
that their comforts are well provided for is 
manifested by the large number who enjoy its 
hospitality during the summer and autumn 
months. Though not a member of any relig- 
ious denomination, Mrs. Mulford is a generous 
contributor toward the support of religious 
work. She is highly esteemed for her many 
estimable qualities. 




SCAR H. SHANNON,* a Civil War 
veteran, was born in Schenectady, 
where he now resides, August 29, 
1848, son of Thomas T. and Lucy C. (Geer) 
Shannon. The father was a native of Glen- 
ville, N. Y. His great-grandfather Shannon, 
and his great-grandfather TuU served in the 
Continental army during the Revolutionary 
War. 

Having completed his education, Oscar H. 
Shannon at the age of fifteen enlisted in the 
Seventy-seventh Regiment, New York Volun- 
teers, with which he served until the close of 
the Rebellion, and participated in the siege of 
Petersburg. After his discharge he went to 
sea as engineer's storekeeper on the steam- 
ship "Henry Chauncy, " and was absent about 
one year, during which time he visited South 
America. Upon his return to Schenectady he 
served an apprenticeship at the tinsmith's 
trade, which he followed as a journeyman pre- 
vious to opening an establishment on his own 
account, and he subsequently carried on a suc- 
cessful business for about fifteen years. Join- 
ing the National Guard, he served for some 



time as Lieutenant in a company of the 
Eighty-third Regiment, and assisted in organ- 
izing two other companies, one of which, the 
Washburn Continentals, formerly the Stanford 
Hose Company, withdrew in a body from the 
Schenectady Fire Department to become the 
Stanford Cadets. He was promoted from 
the rank of First Lieutenant to that of Captain 
of the company, and its present name was sug- 
gested by him. The Washburn Continentals 
were mustered into the National Guard during 
the war with Spain as Company F, Second 
Regiment. He was also one of the principal 
organizers of a company composed entirely of 
Civil War veterans, which flourished for a 
time as originally made up; but the veterans 
were compelled by old age to withdraw one by 
one, and their places were filled by young re- 
cruits. This company, of which he was First 
Lieutenant for five years, was mustered into 
service during the late war as Company E, 
Second Regiment. 

Mr. Shannon married Mary A. Langdon, of 
Schenectady, daughter of John Langdon. He 
has one daughter, Bernice L. , who is now the 
wife of Andrew T. Bran ion, of New York 
City. 

Mr. Shannon belongs to St. Paul's Lodge, 
No. 17, I. O. O. F. , and is a Past Commander 
of Harsfall Post, No. 90, G. A. R. In 1871 
he joined Julian Lodge, Knights of Pythias, 
which was afterward disbanded, but prior to 
the surrender of its charter he withdrew for the 
purpose of organizing the Mohawk Valley 
Lodge at Fort Plain, and was its first Chan- 
cellor. He was representative to the Grand 



436 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Lodge in 1897, and was Deputy Grand Chan- 
cellor. He organized Loyal Lodge, No. 384, 
in 1896; was formerly Chief of Staff of the 
New York Hiigadc, Uniform Rank, with the 
rank of Colonel ; received his Grand Lodge 
degrees during the present year ; and was ap- 
pointed assistant organizer of the luidowment 
Rank by Past Grand Chancellor and Supreme 
Representative William Ledew, his jurisdic- 
tion covering the entire State of New York 
outside of the metropolis. Mr. Shann<m is 
now a member of Schenectady Lodge, to which 
he was admitted by card. 



T|7^E"^ILO COBB,* a well-to-do farmer of 
\^\ Ashland, N. Y., was burn in W'ind- 
V«*^ ham, Greene County, March 4, 
1821, son of Simon and Eunice (Lewis) Cobb. 
His father came here from Connecticut as a 
pioneer, and cleared off a tract of land, which 
he improved into a good farm. He was an 
early schoolmaster in this locality, and figured 
quite prominently in the growth and develop- 
ment of the town. He died at the age of fifty- 
five years. Simon Cobb and his wife, Eunice, 
were the parents of ten children. Three of 
the four now living are: Revilo, Lchvin, and 
Sidney. The mother dietl at the age of 
seventy-two. 

Revilo Cobb was reared upon the homestead 
farm, and was educated in Windham. His 
boyhood was spent in a log house, anil his 
clothing, like that of other children of this Id- 
eality at that time, was made from home-raised 
wool and flax, which were spun, woven, and 



made up by the deft hands of his mother. 
When a young man he turned his attention to 
agriculture, and tilled the soil of one farm for 
a [leriod of thirt\'-eight year.s. In 18S8 he 
moved to his ])resent farm of fifty acres, which 
is admiral)ly located and unusually fertile. 
His principal efforts are devoted to the care of 
a well-equipped dairy. He was formerly an 
extensive sheep-raiser, and in that, as well as 
in dairy farming, he has, through his energy, 
perseverance, and sound judgment, realized ex- 
cellent financial results. He still possesses 
the strength and agility of a much younger 
man, and attends to his every-day duties with 
the same activity that has for years been one 
of his chief characteristics. In politics he is 
a Democrat. 

Mr. Cobb married Louisa Barlow, who was 
born in Ashland, daughter of Alanson ]5ar- 
low. Her father spent his active life upon a 
farm in this town, and died at the age of 
seventy-seven years. Mrs. Cobb died at the 
age of seventy-six. She was the mother of 
but one child, George A., who was born in 
Ashland, October 28, 1850. Revilo Cobb acted 
as a vestryman of the Episcopal church for a 
number of years, and his wife was a member. 

George A. Cobb completed his education in 
West Windham, and taught school a number 
of terms indifferent places. lie took charge 
of the homestead farm when his father left it, 
and he carried it on until 1S94, when he re- 
linquished it in order to assist his father. In 
1878 George A. Cobb married Elizabeth Sut- 
ton, who was born in Windham, N.Y., daugh- 
ter of Aden and Elizabeth (Cook) Sutton. Her 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



437 



father was a native of Schoharie County, and 
her mother was born in Windham, daughter of 
Ichabod Cook. Aden and Elizabeth C. Sutton 
were the parents of four children, namely: 
Elizabeth, wife of George A. Cobb; Polly, 
wife of Henry Sutton; Ella, who married 
H. D. Martin; and Dr. I. F. Sutton, a physi- 
cian, who died at the age of thirty-two years. 
Aden Sutton married for his second wife 
Theresa Cook, who died at the age of thirty- 
seven years, leaving a daughter Ursula. The 
latter married I. C. Lee, a merchant of this 



town, and is no longer living. The father 
died at the age of seventy-two years. He be- 
longed to the Methodist EpiscojDal church, in 
which he was at one time a class leader, choir 
director, and steward. 

George A. Cobb is a Democrat in politics, 
and takes an active interest in public affairs. 
He was one of the organizers of the local 
grange. Patrons of Husbandry, and is its pres- 
ent Master. Mr. and Mrs. George A. Cobb 
have one daughter, Hattie. They attend the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 



INDEX 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



A. 

Adams, Edward 350 

Akeley, Frank 175 

Albro, William H 242 

Alverson, James K 416 

Anderson, George W 205 

Avery, Benjamin H 388 

B 

Baldwin, Andrew G 53 

Baldwin, William H. . . . . 305 

Barrup, Charles E 417 

Bassler, Wellington E 209 

Beard, Franklin P 75 

Becker, Harmon 20 

Beekman, Dow ..... 89 
Beekman, Duryea ... .88 

Bellinger, George W 169 

Benliani, John T 37 

Bestle, Rudolph 208 

Bice, Marshall D 306 

Billings, Ernest E 368 

Bloodgood, Clarence E. . . . 359 

Boens, Louis A 15S 

Boorn, Clarence M 320 

Botsford, Henry T 19 

Boughton, Seymour 33 

Bradt, John 260 

Bradt, Nicholas 69 

Brewster, W. J 420 

Bruce, Elbert 45 

Burgett, William W 215 

Burhans, Judson 308 

Burnett, Charles S 140 

liurtis, John H., Jr 400 



PAGE 

C. 

Campbell, John D 52 

Campbell, William L 240 

Cary, John S 1 57 

Case, James M 397 

Casper, Frank L 200 

Chambers, David 302 

Chapman, Mrs. Elda li. . . . 273 

Chapman, Frank A 296 

Chapman, William W 370 

Chase, Albert 265 

Chase, Emory A 276 

Clapper, Franklin 410 

Clark, A. W 354 

Clute, Bartholomew H. ... 1 56 

Cobb, Revilo 436 

Coffin, P. Gardiner 407 

Cole, Loren P 324 

Conover, John M 117 

Courter, Stanton 293 

Crapser, Wallace W 377 

Curtis, Stephen A 22 



D 

Daley, James B 228 

Danforth, George L 71 

Decker, William H 189 

Defandorf, Levi M 395 

De Forest, Henry S 161 

Dibbell, Renwick 13 

Dickinson, Charles S3 

Dodge, Egbert B 314 

Dormady, Thomas 37 

Dunckel, Jeremiah 226 



FACE 
E. 

Elliott, Ixobert 225 

Empie, John G 193 

Eisenmenger, Frederick . . . 212 

Enders, David 181 

F 

Farquher, Arlhur II 385 

Faulkner, George H 149 

Ferguson, Alonzo 183 

Ferguson, John A 180 

Ferrier, Thomas K in 

Flanagan, James H 259 

Ford, Edwin L . 136 

Fowler, Charles 237 

Fox, George L 144 

France. Frank H 413 

France, John H 171 

Frazee, Frederick L 79 

Frazier, Charles K 432 

Frisbie, Daniel D 299 

Frisbie, Grandison N. ... 17 

Fromer, Jacob 258 

Frost, James 421 

G. 

Gara, Hugh B 144 

Caylord, John W 405 

Getter, Henry C 419 

Gifford, Edward A 345 

Goodsell, Elmer E 32 

Gordon, John A 132 

(iraham, Joseph B 429 

Granby, William 137 



44° 



INDEX 



VM.K 

Gray, John II 54 

CIreen, Nelson 70 

Griswold, John A 230 

Guflin, An(hcw J 12 



H. 



I lager, I'.ihvin 1). 








24.S 


Ilallock, .Slii)hcn 1". 








2S6 


Hamlin, William S. . 








95 


Haner, George . . 








27 


Hartt, Kdgar . . . 








33^' 


HartI, John G. . . 








337 


Ilinman, Chamufy W. 








3f'3 


Ilinnian, David M. . 








307 


Hitchcock, Dwiijht B. 








2yi 


Hoagland, Page T. . 








270 


Howe, Eugene 1^. 








28S 


Huhhell, Kichlniyer . 








40 


IhinlinL;, Ambrose R. 








250 



Jackson, lulgar 
Jenkins, Daniel W. 
Jcralds, Thonias W, 



4'5 

235 

90 



K. 

Kelley, Solomon 259 

Kerr, Albert 1 341 

Kilmer, Thomas J ilS 

Kills, Jacob L So 

Kipp, Herbert 170 

Kline, Andrew J 19.S 

Kniffen, John I! if)7 

Kniskcrn, William li 323 

Kohring, William 87 

Kreiger, Elmer E 182 



Lackey, Michael, Jr. 






25s 


Lape, Simeon .... 






29 


Larkin, Willard . . . 






355 


Lasher, George . . . 






44 


Lehman, I'arke C. . 






loS 


Leonard, Duncan M. . 






3 28 


I.iddle, Andrew G. . . 






'03 



I.omax, I toward V. 
Loudon, .Stephen . 



PACn 
378 
257 



M. 



MacMillen, Alexander 








•73 


Magee, Peter . . . 








3'l 


Maginnis, John . . 








390 


Malcolm, Joseph . . 








25 


Mann, Charles . . 








427 


Markham, Convas V.. 








411 


iMattire, Garret W. . 








•49 


Mayham, Stephen L 








'25 


McCabe, Charles P. 








3'7 


McMillan, Andrew J. 








31 


.McWilliams, James C. 








431 


Mead. Joel H. . . . 








375 


Mead, William H. . 








218 


Mullord, Mrs. Mary J. 








433 


Myers, John A. . . 








21 1 



N. 

Neville, William H 

Newell, John A 

Nichols, Charles E. . '. . . . 
Nichols, Charles E. (of Catskill), 



Odell, Herbert I.. 
( )'I lara, Barnard . 
O'Hara, Michael . 
Olnistead, Henry F. 
O'Neil, Hugh . . 
Osterhout, Stanton 



I'elham, Elmer E. 
Pettingill, Haman P. 
Pitcher, Charles W. 
I'latner, Benjamin F 
I'latner, William C. 
1 'otter, Thomas K. 
Pulman, Joseph . 
I'utnam, John II.. 



425 
48 
60 

•5' 



[46 
373 
•3' 
65 
192 
42S 



349 
122 
176 
3«4 
3«4 
•4 
166 

423 



R. 

Ramsey, Charles H 351 

Kaymond, Andrew V. V, . . . 349 

Kector, Christian 320 

Kifenbark, Hiram 253 

Rivcnburg, Willard T 234 

Koe, John i9<; 

Rose, F^li 330 

Rosekraus, Albert G 338 

Rossnian, John 219 



Sage, Sylvester B. . 
Salsbergh, William . 
.Schermerhorn, Simon J 
Searles, Frank R. 
Sclden, Robert . . 
Shafer, William D. . 
.Shannon, Oscar 1 1. . 
.Shelmandine, Lewis 
Showers, Cyrus . . 
Showers, Isaac . . 
Sias, Solomon . . . 
Slater, David T. . . 
Smeallic, William J. 
Smith, Chaunccy . . 
Snyder, J. Augustus 
Snyder, Jacob M. 
Staley, James S. . . 
Stanley, Peter L . . 
.Stead, James . . . 
.Sternberg, John II. . 
Stevens, i-^mory . . 
Stevens, James . . 
Stewart, William H. 
Straiili, I'rank .\. 



Tallmadge, Benj.imin I. 
Terpening, Ira M. . . 
Thor])e, William E. . . 
Tinning, Archibald . . 
Treadw'ell, La Grand I. 



■30 



U. 



Utter, Israel P. 
I'lter, James L. 



399 

47 

191 

435 
63 

39 

85 

101 

327 

3S8 
162 
275 
283 
129 
280 

3';3 
164 

404 

97 
202 



263 
106 

380 

55 
364 



127 
4tS 



>■% 



INDEX 



44r 



V 

Van Bergen, Henry 138 

Vanderbilt, William S. ... 266 

Vanderpoel, Andrew J. ... 1S7 

Van Dreser, Henry 9O 

Van Eps, Peter V 66 

Van Loan, Jane 93 

Van Loan, Walton 77 

Van Schaick, Joseph W. . . . 285 

Van Valkenburgh, Jacob . . . 342 

Van Wagenen, Jared .... 207 

Van Zandt, Henry C 34 



PAGE 

Voss, Charles 104 

Vroman, Dow F 361 

W. 

Waddell, James W 143 

Waddell, William T 63 

Wakeman, Alonzo 197 

Wasson, William A 61 

Weidnian, Charles E 222 

West, Noah D 114 

Wilber, Kirby 76 

Wilson, Mrs. Julia A 238 



PAGE 

Winegard, Richard 154 

Woodworth, Lucius A 294 

Wyatt, James T 367 

Y. 

Yates, Austin A 9 

Young, J. Edward 38 

Young, Madison 424 

Z. 

Zelie, Luther 313 



PORTRAITS. 



PAGH 

Albro, William H 243 

Anderson, George W 204 

Baldwin. William II 304 

lit-anl, Franklin P 74 

Bellinger, George W. . . facts 169 

Blootlgood, Clarence !•'.. . . . 35S 

Bradt, John 261 

Hurtis, Jolin H., Jr 401 

De Forest, Henry S 160 

Dickinson, Charles 82 

Dodge, Egbert 15 3(5 

Kisennienger, Frederick . . . 2r3 

Ferrier, Thomas E no 

Frisbie, Daniel D 29.S 

Frisbie, Grandison N 16 

Gordon, John A 133 



rAf.K 

Griswold, John A 231 

Hitchcock, Dwight I! 290 

Hubbell, Riclitmver .... 41 

Jerald.s, Thomas W 91 

Kerr, Albert L 340 

Kilmer, Thomas J 119 

Maginnis, John 391 

Malcolm, Joseph 24 

Mattice, Garret W 14S 

Mayham, Stephen L i 24 

Newell, John A 49 

O'Hara, Barnard 372 

Pitcher, Charles W. . .... 177 

Raymond, Andrew V'. V. . . . 34S 

Rector, Christian 321 

Rifenbark, Hiram 252 



PAGE 

Rose, Eli . 331 

Rose, Mrs. Eli 333 

•Sias, Solomon 100 

Stanley, I'eter 1 2.S1 

Straub, P>ank X 57 

Thorpe, William E 3S1 

Vanderbilt, William S. ... 267 

Vandcrpoel, Andrew J. ... 186 

Van Eps, Peter \' 67 

Van Zandt, Henry C 35 

Waddell, James W 142 

Wakenian, Alonzo 196 

Weidman, Charles E 223 

Wyatt, James T 36O 

Yates, Anstin A S 



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